The End of the NeverEnding (Book 1)
by GhostWriter11202
Summary: When Violet moves to town, she takes a special liking to Danny Fenton. But there's more than what meets the eye. When Danny's "amnesia" prevents him from knowing the truth about what happened, he learns the hard way. By being pushed into the road. But when things finally start to fall into place, a chain reaction causes for Clockwork's involvement. That's when Danny has a choice.
1. The Beginning of the End

_**The End Of The NeverEnding (Book #1)**_

**Chapter 1 *The Beginning of the End***

"No, Danny. That's absolutely stupid!" Sam denied, crossing her arms defiantly and closing her eyes.  
Danny spread his hands out pleadingly and said, "Oh, come on! At least it's not as stupid as Tucker's idea! You've gotta admit, that was pretty bad."  
"Hey! Was not! Selling your parent's old, junky ghost lab stuff was a great idea!" Tucker chimed in, also folding his arms indignantly.  
"Yes, it is a bad idea. First of all, my parents would murder me if I sold all of their ghost hunting equipment. Second of all, remember the _last _garage sale we had? Yeah, that ended well," Danny reminded.  
Tucker tapped his chin in concentration. "Oh, yeah. With the whole Technus and destruction and stuff? Yup, now I remember."  
"Off the subject of Tucker and his idiocy, you're suggestion isn't much better. For the tenth time, no," Sam said firmly.  
"But your parents are rich! Surely they could just lend us a little bit of money. Please?" Danny raised his eyebrows in frustration.  
Sam shook her head, sharing his frustration. "My parents don't even like you in the first place, so what do you think they'll say when you ask for money?"  
"That's why you'll be asking. We really need the money! If Danny can't get enough money to fix the Assault Vehicle, then he can't bring us on the trip with him and his family!" Tucker begged annoyingly. Sam glared daggers at him.  
"Oh, that's real fair. Make the girl do the work. Whatever! I'll ask, but you both owe me. And I've got a few ideas." She smiled knowingly and clasped her hands together, as if planning an evil scheme.  
Danny and Tucker took a step back apprehensively.  
"Uh, ye-ah," they said in unison, already dreading what Sam had in mind. The bell cut through their conversation with a shrill ringing that reverberated throughout the nearly empty hallway, signaling the start of their weekend freedom. Sam spun on her heel.  
"See ya later! I'm not promising anything about the money," she called over her shoulder.  
"Meet at Danny's in an hour!" Tucker hollered back to her.  
Danny gave him a confused look.  
"Why do we have to meet at my house?" he asked. Tucker began walking down the hall with his hands in his pockets and Danny almost thought he hadn't heard him.  
But he finally answered when he caught up with him.  
"So I can figure out how much your Spectre-Deflector sells for."  
"Haha, very funny. You're not selling any of our stuff, so drop it. Besides, what's the real reason you want to meet at my house?" Danny implored, getting impatient with Tucker's evasiveness.  
Tucker looked uncomfortable, fidgety even. Hesitantly, he muttered, "Because I heard the new girl was stopping by your house for tutoring, and I wanted to see if I had a chance with her." Tucker avoided looking at Danny, staring at the walls, floor, trashcans, anything.  
Danny managed to stifle a laugh, if barely. He played it off as an awkward cough. "The new girl? Really? Tuck, I know you're desperate, but hitting on the new girl on her very first day is going to be seen as pathetic."  
Tucker stared at him blankly. "Ouch. That hurt."  
Danny shrugged his shoulders dismissively. "Sorry, dude. We both know it's true. That's why I'm waiting till next week. Jazz tutors her three times a week."  
Tucker shook his head as if he couldn't figure out which one of them was right. "Fine. But when I'm hangin' with her tomorrow, you'll see I was right!" Danny just rolled his eyes in annoyance. Without warning, his ghost-sense went off, but he didn't seem to notice as he turned to the sound of his name.  
"Hey, Danny!" a female voice called. They turned to the general direction of the voice and found a 14-year-old girl quickly walking towards them, her reddish, brown curls bouncing. When she met them, she pushed a stray lock behind her ear shyly. Her eyes were a deep lilac and her curly hair was a dark brown with natural red tints and hung loosely around her shoulders. Her outfit consisted of a plain white tank top, carmine ruffle skirt, and black high-heel boots that came up to her knees. She was the same height as Danny. Danny forgot all about the supposed ghost wherever it was.  
"Hi, I'm Violet. Violet Prickston. I was told to walk home with you for tutoring. You're Danny Fenton, right?" Violet asked sweetly in a smooth voice.  
"Yeah, so you're the new girl? Nice to meet you, Violet. This is my best friend, Tucker Foley."  
"Nice to meet you," Tucker said in a low voice, trying to win her over, but to no avail. She seemed to have her heart set on someone else.  
"Um, hi. Well, I better hurry if I don't want to upset you're sister. Jasmine, is it?" Violet asked innocently, her lavender eyes looking straight into Danny's electric blue ones.  
"Y-yes. You're right, we better go," he stuttered, at a loss for words for a moment. Without a word Violet slid her hand into Danny's, a completely oblivious smile on her burnt-red-lipstick lips. Danny glanced back at Tucker for a half-second but was tugged along by Violet. Tucker didn't even try to hide his disappointment as he tagged along after them.  
As they walked down the sidewalk to Fenton Works, they noticed a few details about Violet. She was outspoken but polite, very graceful compared to both Danny and Tucker combined, and was obviously taking a special liking to Danny. But only Tucker seemed to notice these things, because as with everyone who was close with Danny, they all knew he was clueless. He was smart, nevertheless, but clueless.  
"So I heard your parents fight ghosts for a living. Is it true?" Violet asked quietly, twirling a lock of hair unconsciously around her index finger.  
Answering one of the hundreds of questions Violet had already asked, Danny said, "Yes, but don't listen to the rumors you hear about them, they're actually pretty good." But as he told her this, an explosion came from Fenton Works and shook the ground. A series of shouts could be heard coming from Jazz as she scolded Jack and Maddie Fenton for blowing up the kitchen counter.  
Danny face palmed. "Most of the time," he mumbled.  
"Huh?" Violet said.  
"They're good, most of the time," Danny confirmed. Violet nodded nervously and Tucker swooped in and used her uneasiness to his advantage.  
"It's okay, Violet. I'm used to this kind of thing. Danny's parents are kind of...crazy."  
"Are not!" Danny defended.  
"Loony," Tucker supplied.  
"No."  
"Psycho," he suggested.  
"No! They're, um...eccentric. Yup, that's the word I'm looking for."  
"Sure, whatever helps you sleep at night. Anyway, follow me, if you would." Tucker grasped Violet's hand and led her inside. Danny trailed behind silently.  
"Oh, hello, sweetie! I see you've brought a friend! Well, don't just stand there, bring her in," Maddie Fenton cheered, her blue suit singed and her goggles lopsided. Jack Fenton poked his head in around the kitchen doorway, his vivid orange jumpsuit now darkened with ash.  
"Who's this, Danny?" he asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes at Violet with evident distrust. "She's not a ghost, is she? You know how I feel about ghosts." Jack ran into the room and stuck his face into Violet's personal space, examining for any ghost-like abilities or traits.  
Jazz sped into the room and pushed her dad back to the kitchen before he could run any tests, apologizing to Violet repeatedly. She came back with a stack of books and a handful of worksheets, balancing it as she hurried to get Violet away from her delusional family. She quickly took notice of Danny and Violet's linked hands, which had interlinked once again without Danny even realizing it. Violet didn't seem to think she was being clingy at all.  
"Oh, I am so sorry! My brother is such a doof sometimes!" Jazz said, stepping between the two. "Maybe you should leave us to work, Danny. We don't need your distractions."  
Danny scowled at his overprotective sister but didn't argue. Violet gave him a sympathetic smile and allowed herself to be led away by Jazz. When they were sitting on the couch in the living room and out of earshot, Tucker elbowed Danny in the side.  
"What?" he snapped, rubbing his rib angrily.  
"She totally likes you, man!" Tucker whispered excitedly. Danny ignored this comment and went to check the damage his parents had caused to the kitchen. When he walked in Maddie grabbed him by the wrist and yanked him down to the lab.  
"Ow! Mom, would you mind to explain the hostility? And put that ghost ray down!" Danny yelled as his mom jerked him down the stairs two steps at a time. Jack Fenton was already downstairs, waiting.  
"Danny my boy, is that "girl" upstairs," on the word "girl" he made quotations with his fingers, "a ghost? And if so, what are her powers, weaknesses, and dangerousness on a scale from one to 27?"  
"Why 27?"  
"Because it's an uneven number. And tell me, how powerful are her ghostly abilities? And did she brainwash you? Are you under her control right now? Oh! Are you even Danny? And if so, prove it," Jack Fenton said, questioned, and accused all in one breath. He waited expectantly but impatiently.  
"Dad, she's a new girl from school that Jazz is tutoring," Danny said simply. Maddie let go of her son's wrist hastily and an awkward silence befell them.  
Jack broke the silence first. "Oh. In that case, you may go and do whatever it is you normally do." Danny sighed wearily and plodded back up the stairs.  
"What was that all about? I came into the kitchen and you were gone," Tucker asked when he saw Danny come upstairs.  
"Parents. Ghosts. No explanation needed," Danny replied flatly, walking past Tucker and to the door as the doorbell went off. He opened it and Sam rushed in.  
"I asked and, can't believe I'm saying this, they said yes! They're going to lend you money!" Sam exclaimed, shaking her head in disbelief.  
"Seriously?" Danny asked in amazement.  
"Awesome!" Tucker triumphed, punching his fist in the air.  
Jazz walked out of the living room with Violet right on her tail.  
"Come back tomorrow and make sure you have all of your books with you, too. Sorry this session was so short. I promise you'll get your full two hours tomorrow. Goodbye!" Jazz dismissed Violet with a final wave and opened the door for her.  
Violet gathered her book bag off of the floor and said, "Thank you, and I'll make sure I have the books." Then turning to Danny, she said with her alluring voice, "And I'll see you tomorrow. Walk me here?"  
"Uh, sure," Danny said with a smile.  
"Great! Bye." And she left with one last glance over her shoulder at Danny. Sam looked after her with disdain and folded her arms crossly once again that day. She hated her already, but didn't know why.  
"Who's that?" she asked no one in particular, but seemed to direct the question at Danny.  
"That's Violet, from school. She's new," Danny said absently, not thinking much of it. Apparently he hadn't noticed Sam's discernible distaste for Violet. Clueless.  
"And she _likes_ Danny," Tucker mocked, drawing out the word "likes" in a teasing way. Danny punched him playfully on the arm.  
"Shut up, Tuck." Danny gestured towards his sister, who was trying to eavesdrop. Jazz laughed nervously, realizing they had noticed her, and dashed upstairs.  
"Oh, does she? Well, that's great," Sam said with false happiness. The three set off for Danny's room, but as they went up, Tucker smirked at Sam.  
Eventually, she got paranoid and snapped at him. "What?"  
"You're jealous." It wasn't a question, but a statement.  
"Huh, what? Come on, Tuck, if you're going to insult me, at least make it intelligent."  
"I'm not insulting you. You're jealous of Violet, aren't you? It's plain as day!" Tucker stage-whispered.  
"It is?" Sam sounded nervous, her eyes wide. But she regained her composure quickly. "I mean, really? That would have to involve something to be jealous of."  
"And we both know what that is...or should I say; who that is."  
Sam stopped short on the step. "What? Tucker, don't be so ridiculous! If you're suggesting what I think you're suggesting, then you should stop suggesting."  
"And what do you think I'm suggesting?"  
"That I...," she paused, glancing at Danny's back to make sure he wasn't listening. "That I...you know!"  
"Oh, so you don't?" he asked, confusion tainting his words.  
"I never said...maybe...no. I don't," she said more confidently, still trying to determine her feelings at the moment, contrary to her words.  
"Guys? What're you talking about?" Danny asked, already at the top of the stairs.  
"Sam's-"  
"Nothing!" Sam interrupted, mentally vowing to kill Tucker later. Danny gave them wary a glance but continued to his room, not waiting for them to catch up. Sam gave Tucker the death glare, but he counteracted with a cocky grin and bounded up the steps. Sam groaned loudly and followed solemnly after.  
When they were all finally in the room, Sam spoke up. "Okay, so why are we all here? Was there a reason you wanted us to come, Danny?"  
Danny side glanced at Tucker, which caused curiosity to arise in Sam.  
"No reason. Unless Tucker would care to say otherwise," Danny confessed, still looking at Tucker keenly.  
"Yeah, Tuck. What's up?" Sam taunted.  
Tucker pretended to be interested in something on his PDA, then looked up and saw they were both still looking at him. He glanced down at his wrist as if there was a watch there and acted like he was late for an event. "Oh, dear! I'm late for...that thing! Heh, heh...Bye!" And he bolted out of the room.  
"Well?" Sam asked.  
"He has a crush on Violet," Danny explained immediately, not even looking up from his homework.  
Sam was secretly cheering. Now she had something against him. But she pushed the scheme from her mind at the moment. "So, now what?"  
But before Danny could even open his mouth, Jazz walked into the room without knocking.  
"Danny, may I speak to you?" she said primly, her nose stuck up in the air haughtily.  
"Sure?" he said, doubt etched in his voice.  
"Excuse us, Sam," Jazz ushered her out. Gently closing the door, Jazz turned back to Danny. "As for you, please stay away from Violet. She needs to focus on her education!"  
"What do you mean? I'm not distracting her!"  
"She seemed to think you were," Jazz informed sharply, pursing her bright pink lips and placing her hands on her hips.  
"Really? Her, or you?" Danny challenged.  
Jazz's guard went down. She stuttered, but caught herself. "Fine, I'll admit it. Me. But either way you're to stay away from her! I mean it." And she left in a huff.  
Danny stood up to slam the door in Jazz's wake, but noticed Sam was gone. Hanging his head in irritation, Danny slammed the door so his parents knew to leave him alone. He dropped back onto his bed and resumed his homework unwillingly.  
** *****  
'Stupid Tucker and his stupid ideas, I most certainly do not like Danny that way! And he doesn't like me that way, that much is obvious," Sam thought irately, slinging her book bag strap over her shoulder as she stomped down the street.  
'And stupid Violet and her stupid face," came an afterthought.  
Sam kicked the fallen leaves angrily and glanced up at the nearly bare trees. The air was crisp and a slight breeze blew across her cheeks, causing her her ink-black hair to blow in her face. But she'd known it would be chilly out and had brought her obsidian jacket, which she pulled snugly around herself. Autumn was approaching rapidly and in only a week she and Tucker were going on a trip to the woods with Danny's family. Sure, it was going to be exceedingly boring and no doubt unusual, but they had agreed to not leave Danny alone with his crazed parents and snoopy sister for a whole five days. He may live with them, but being cramped in the Fenton RV for that long with those particular people would be enough to put anyone on edge. Danny's family was trying to have a week away from the city, but at the same time they were bringing fully loaded ghost hunting equipment. Ironic. And Sam remembered past camping trips and just how chaotic those had turned out to be.  
But just as Sam was thinking of annoying things, Violet appeared out of nowhere with her book bag still around her shoulders, even though it was about half an hour after her lesson with Jazz. She seemed to recognize Sam, because she put her hand up in a small wave. Sam was tempted to just ignore the friendly gesture and keep walking, but she had a few questions of her own.  
"Hey, Violet! Can I talk to you for a moment?" Sam asked with artificial kindness.  
"Sure! What is it...Cam, right?" Violet asked with uncertainty, tilting her head. Her auburn curls lifted in the soft breeze, intensifying her beauty. Sam all but slapped her upside the head.  
"Sam," she replied curtly. But she slathered on the phony charm, forcing herself to stay nice, even if she ended up murdering someone after their conversation.  
"I just wanted to ask you a few questions, you know, to get to know you," Sam said with mock cheeriness, but Violet either chose to ignore it or didn't notice.  
"Go ahead, ask away!" Violet chirped, her orchid eyes sparkling. Sam almost thought she saw a flash of malice, but couldn't be sure.  
"Anyway, I wanted to know, where are you from? Anywhere near?" Sam began, raising her eyebrows with sincere curiosity. Before Violet could answer, Sam walked casually over to a side bench and took a seat. Violet followed in pursuit.  
Now seated comfortably and with a reasonable distance between each other, Violet said in her silky voice, "Where I'm from is nowhere near here. And yet very near. It's actually closer than you think, but farther than you can imagine."  
Wow. What a cliffhanger. But that didn't deter Sam.  
"Okay? Where do you live now?"  
"Just on the outskirts of town."  
"How many siblings do you have?"  
"None."  
"Why do you have to be tutored?"  
"I could do better in some areas."  
"What are you doing here?"  
"I have a task to fulfill."  
The girl never missed a beat. She had an answer to every question Sam threw at her, but she was vague and secretive about her responses all the same. Sam decided to try and get more personal information. She noticed the faster she interrogated her, the faster Violet answered without thinking.  
"Just a few more questions. Did you want to come here?"  
"You have no idea."  
"Where are you heading now?"  
"To speak with someone."  
"What are your parent's names?"  
"Penny Prickston."  
"No father?"  
"No. He's long gone. Well, technically, but that's getting complicated." Sam raised her eyebrows questioningly, but Violet didn't continue.  
"Why're you hanging with Danny?"  
Oh, no. That question had slipped out before she could even process what she had said. Why did she just ASK that out loud? She guessed the faster she asked questions, the less she thought about what she was asking.  
Sam stiffened and stood up abruptly, clearing her throat. She had a futile shred of hope that Violet hadn't heard the last one. But of course, she had been very attentive the whole time. Violet stood slowly, a wicked grin spreading across her lips.  
"Now that," she said sharply, a hint of amusement in her velvet voice, "is classified. It was great to stop and chat with you, Pam, but I have places to be. And don't worry, I won't tell him." She sauntered away, looking more confident than she had when Sam had first met her.  
"Sam. It's Sam," Sam muttered under her breath. Sam wondered who she meant by "him", but was afraid she already knew. After Violet turned the corner Sam cursed herself for her stupidity. How could she have let that particular inside info slip from her mouth? Why couldn't she have been satisfied with the information she'd already gotten? Sam mentally kicked herself, then started for home, a sinking feeling in her stomach that wouldn't cease as she imagined what Violet would do with the fragment of a detail Sam had given her. But then she thought about all the other incidents and predicaments that have or would happen in her life and she figured it wasn't the worst of her worries. But then she thought of Danny and her nervousness fluttered back.  
'Dang it! I've got to stop worrying! Why should I care if she likes Danny? I don't, that's why," she scolded herself. But then a new dread nagged at her. Why did she care? She concluded that the strange and alien feeling would pass in a few days, just in time for the trip. Yes, it was just a fleeting moment of insecurity, that's all.  
Or so she thought. 


	2. Moving On

**Chapter 2 *Moving On***

"Danny! Danny! Get up!" Jazz yelled impatiently from downstairs. Disoriented and dazed, he sat up slowly, trying to remember his surroundings and what was going on. But as his vision cleared and his senses focused, Danny groaned inwardly and rolled over, stuffing the pillow over his ears to block out the high-pitched squealing of his overbearing sister. Sleep began to envelope him once more as he tuned out Jazz's commands.  
But before he could get a firm grasp on sleep, Jazz stomped into the room and yanked his covers off.

"Have you not heard me the last 10 minutes? We're going to be late!" she screeched, flailing her hands this way and that for emphasis. Danny pulled the pillow tighter around his head.  
"Oh, I heard you. And the whole neighborhood did, too."  
"Get up and get dressed, or I'll leave you to walk," Jazz threatened, placing her fists on her hips like she always did when she was frustrated.  
"Fine! Fine. I'm getting up," Danny surrendered, climbing begrudgingly out of the warm, cozy bed and dragging Jazz out of the room. With her gone he got dressed and ready, not even bothering to comb through his sparrow-black hair, and came down reluctantly.  
Jazz looked up from her book. "Ah-ha! It's about time you decided to wake up! Hurry up, or I'll be late for first period," Jazz bossed, tramping out loudly.  
"Ugh. Another car ride with the infamous Jazz Fenton..." Danny mumbled, regretting his decision to come with her.  
The ride there wasn't bad. Jazz appeared to be in a pretty dark mood, so Danny left her to sulk while he went through his plans for the day. Nothing was actually going on today, but it gave him a reason to avoid talking on the way there.  
Jazz pulled into the school's parking lot with extra care, being the overprotective sister she was, and came to a stop at an excruciatingly slow speed. When the car finally jerked to a stop, Danny leapt out of the car without a goodbye and went on his way to class.  
'Strange. He usually has at least one rude comment on my driving. Wonder what's got him in a bad mood,' Jazz wondered.  
A random student passed by and accidentally knocked the mirror on her car sideways.  
"Hey! Watch it, ya creep!" Jazz warned, shaking her fist as she leaned out the window.  
Danny snuck a look over his shoulder as his sister nearly fell out of the car window. Rolling his eyes, he searched for Sam and Tucker, a faint smile pulling at his lips and his hands stuffed into his pockets.  
Fortunately, he didn't have to search for long. Finding Tucker was easy, mostly because he was the center of attention at the moment, being stuffed inhumanly into a very uncomfortable-looking locker. Dash slammed the locker door shut with an evil grin, swiping his hands together as if brushing dirt off.  
"There! One nerd down, five to go!" Dash announced in his nasally voice. His gaze sifted through the edgy crowd, targeting his next victim. His narrowed eyes landed on Danny.  
"Great," he muttered, looking for an escape route. But of course, no exit within running distance. Danny slouched, awaiting the attack. Dash chuckled darkly and pushed through the crowd. When he finally came into the opening, Danny's patience was wearing thin.  
But Dash's attitude was quite the opposite. He was taking his time, obviously in no hurry to pummel him. After about three agonizingly long minutes of cracking his knuckles threateningly, Danny snapped.  
"Really, Dash, I want to get this over with sometime today! Or at least this week! But I know your pea-sized, jock brain can't process that too quickly, so go on. Take your time," Danny bursted. He crossed his arms casually and waited with bated breath as he realized his actions. Dash seemed astounded that someone had actually had the audacity to talk to him without his permission. And just as Dash raised his fist for the striking blow, another voice joined into their argument. But this voice was soothing.  
"Dash!" Violet chided. "What do you think you're doing?"  
Dash slid his steely gaze from Danny to Violet reluctantly.  
"I'm about to beat this dork to a pulp, that's what!" Dash spat. Violet remained calm.  
"But you don't want to do that," she stated tranquilly.  
Dash's enraged grimace slowly shifted into a blank expression, like he was suddenly hypnotized.  
"You're right. I-I don't." And he dropped his fist instantly. Turning sharply, he stumbled away, the dull look in his eyes disappearing only when he was around the hall corner.  
Violet smiled victoriously. "There. Are you okay?"  
It took Danny a few moments to acknowledge her, but eventually he broke from his surprise. "Uh, we-ll. Yeah, I guess..."  
Relief was evident in her violaceous eyes. "Good. So, what're you waiting for? Let's get to class," she said, as if nothing had happened. Her plum-colored eyes glinted briefly of something unfamiliar, but he didn't give it a second thought. He simply nodded as they headed on their way to their first class, Violet chattering away.  
All during first class Violet talked to him, never once caring that the teacher might catch them. Actually, in third period, they did get caught! But Violet guilelessly spoke to them in an even voice and the teacher just...agreed. She did this frequently throughout the day, but Danny barely noticed. He had a feeling it didn't matter and that he should just listen to her. He was suspicious at first, but the suspicion had died away slowly, and he forgot about it eventually. It was every time she said something, every time she spoke to him; the suspicion and distrust faded.  
Before he knew it, the school day was over and Violet was walking beside him to Fenton Works. Sam and Tucker hadn't come because they were working on an assignment together that involved a mystery subject, but they had been unwilling to say any more on the matter.  
"So, I was speaking with Sam the other day...," Violet began, watching Danny from the corner of her eye for his reaction. But he was completely uninterested; he was too deep in thought.  
"Uh, huh. Really," he mumbled, staring fixedly at the sidewalk and concentrating. Abruptly, his ghost-sense went off for the eighth time that day, and he ignored it for the eighth time. Frowning in frustration, he looked up from the cement pavement to cast a subtle glance around, but saw nothing. Shaking his head, he resumed his previous thoughts with the same focus. He could faintly hear Violet's attempt at small talk, but it was irrelevant. He didn't honestly care in his current state.  
Violet waited expectantly, but when he said nothing more, she chose to take that as an opportunity.  
"And she said something quite interesting, something I think will interest you," she continued, her amaranthine eyes wide and probing. He simply nodded, his thoughts elsewhere. He could hear the irritation in her voice.  
"And would you like to hear what it is?" she asked, impatience edging into her usually steady voice at his lack of attention. He "mhm'ed" and stared straight ahead, a slight frown on his face as he concluded his skepticism. Violet growled inaudibly.  
Her eyes flared a glowing amethyst at being ignored, but she swiftly calmed her temper, double-checking that Danny hadn't seen. She cleared her throat and composed herself.  
"She informed me-" But an echoing crash sliced through her words as swiftly as a sharpened knife. Despite her unpleasant mood, Violet was intrigued. Danny himself was caught off guard.  
"Catch it, Jack! Catch it!" Maddie Fenton could be heard shouting frantically. Another earsplitting shatter resounded and then silence.  
"I guess we better...see what happened?" Danny asked unenthusiastically, plain to see that he actually didn't want to know.  
But Violet, still upset from his tergiversation and the interrupting ruckus, agreed with a pouty attitude, hoping he'd notice. Which he did, being awoken from his daydream. And now that she thought about it, she was curious to know what he was thinking.  
"Before we go, what were you so intent on thinking about? You didn't answer directly to any of my questions," Violet investigated, laying on her hypnotic voice.  
"Nothing important, really. Let's go," he said a little too eagerly. He didn't want to share his latest discovery. He wished Sam and Tucker were around. But because of his terrible skill in lying, she could tell he wasn't telling the truth.  
"You can tell me, it's okay," she replied, disregarding his demand to drop the subject. She leaned forward on her tiptoes and tilted her head sincerely. He leaned back impulsively, his eyes displaying caution. She realized he was suspicious and took the matter into her own hands.  
"Danny, why are you being so distant? I thought we were friends," Violet whispered in her silky voice, using her powers to the maximum. He appeared to be persuaded at first, but his mind cleared and he flickered back to his own freewill. Violet was taken aback. She always got the better of everyone! But no, this Danny Fenton could easily overcome her powers. She'd need to find the portal and soon. Time was ticking, and so was Danny's life, little did he know.  
Without a word, they went into Fenton Works together and separated at the doorway. Danny seemed to have a theory about her, and she needed to gain his trust back. She'd work on that later, but for now, she had some quality time to spend with Jazz.  
** *****  
Now up in the safety of his room, Danny paced back and forth, murmuring incoherently under his breath. He couldn't believe he hadn't seen it earlier, but it was obvious now. Violet was a ghost. And a good or bad one, he couldn't tell. But he was bent on figuring out that piece of missing information as soon as possible. He had realized this when he'd been walking with Violet a little earlier, when his ghost-sense had gone off once again. He'd just been oblivious enough to not notice that it went off whenever Violet came around.  
He was pondering on ideas about how to determine Violet's motives when a soft knock came at the door. He glanced up, realizing he'd been unconsciously tapping his food repetitively.  
"Come in," he welcomed, expecting his mom or dad to come in with some great, new invention. But instead it was Violet, looking urgent. Her wide eyes showed her nervousness.  
"Violet, what're you-"  
"Just meet me here tonight, please," she begged, slipping a folded note into his hands.  
"But what-"  
"I have to go before Jazz notices, but please, just meet me," she pleaded. In one swift movement, she was out and back downstairs. Danny sat precipitously on the edge of his bed, placing his head in his palm and putting his elbow on his knee. He unfolded the note carelessly, annoyed with Violet's vagueness with everything, and read it. It said to meet her on the outskirts of town at 9:00 p.m. promptly. He sighed exasperatedly and tossed the note disdainfully on his side table.  
Whatever so called "crush" he'd had on her, was gone. Now all he could think was what she wanted and why she was here, in Amity Park. No immediate solution came to mind. And she didn't leave any hints either, so he was completely baffled and had nowhere to lead off from.  
Finally, he decided to call Sam and Tucker to get their opinions. But both of their phones rang...and rang...and rang. Neither picked up. Without their input, there was a hindrance in his research on Violet now. To his great dissatisfaction, he had to wait. And if necessary, he would wait all the way to 9:00 p.m. With, or without Sam and Tucker's help.  
** *******  
** Time passes unrealistically slow when you're waiting for something. Danny felt like this statement was absolutely true as he lay sprawled on his bed, counting the seconds one-by-one to pass the time. Literally.  
But eventually he tired of doing that, at which any normal person would have also, and instead stood up and went to his computer. He tried video chatting, but neither Sam nor Tucker answered. His frustration then dwindled to a sneaking curiosity as he wondered what they were doing.  
He checked his clock. 7:27 p.m. Ugh.  
He decided to actually do something with his remaining time, so he grabbed his hazy blue jacket and headed downstairs.  
"Oh, honey, can you help with this?" Maddie asked as she noticed her son trying to execute his escape plan. Darn it.  
"Uh, um, well..." His hand hovered over the doorknob.  
"Uh, um, well? Come on, I need an extra hand," Maddie insisted, overlooking Danny's hesitancy. He sighed and shuffled over, dragging his feet.  
"Okay, now you take that end and I'll carry this end. That's right. Now hurry, down to the lab!" she instructed, lifting her end up with ease as Danny struggled to get it off the floor. He eventually got it, but not without denting it thoroughly. He would be surprised if the machine still worked by the time it was downstairs in the lab.  
"One, two, three-watch out!" she yelled when Danny skipped a step by accident. "You're going to drop it!"  
"Oh, thanks, don't worry about me, I'm fine," Danny said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. But that just got him another warning from his mother.  
"Keep your eyes on the stairs!"  
"I got it! How much farther?"  
"Just over...here." And they sat it down. More like dropped it, but whatever.  
"Thank you, your father isn't much help right now. Speaking of your father, have you seen him?" Maddie asked, already setting to work on the contraption they'd just brought down. She pressed miscellaneous buttons and pulled random levers, not even paying attention to what she was doing. Thankfully, she didn't press any self-destruct button. Yet.  
"Nope, haven't seen him. Anyway, I was going to just go for a walk, so see you," Danny replied distractedly, not really hearing what she was saying. He dashed for the stairs before his mother could get him to stay longer.  
Once he hit the top step, he ran to the door to avoid any more unwanted detours.  
Just as he shut the door, he heard Jazz call, "Danny!" He pretended not to hear her.  
Outside it was cold and probably only 60 degrees, not including the biting wind. The sun was setting quickly and the sky was an orange and pink mess, casting a faint glow on everything below. The withering plants were a dull yellow-tan and gave the scenery a dead vibe. But it still held a mysterious beauty that canceled out the lifelessness of it all. Danny shivered and began his undirected walk.  
It didn't take long for his jacket to be absolutely useless. He was hugging his arms to his chest in less than 20 minutes and wishing he'd stayed home. The walk did help clear his mind, but wasn't very comfortable. Soon enough he was sitting on a park bench with his head in his arms, bored to death. The past three days had been stressful and they were catching up to him all at once. Now.  
"Hey, Danny. What're you doing? Do feel alright?" Sam asked, sitting down next to him.  
He looked up. "Oh, hey, Sam. Where were you?"  
"Mother's on high alert again," she said with a disgusted grimace.  
"What do you mean?" he said, using anything as a distraction from his own thoughts.  
"Forcing me into dresses, telling me how my friends are such bad influences, locking me up in my bedroom, taking away all form of communication. The norm."  
"Oh," Danny said without emotion. The bell began chiming for the stroke of 8 'o'clock, ringing off the buildings and echoing. Danny sighed in impatience, wanting to only get his encounter with Violet over with. Sam caught on to his distress.  
"What's wrong?" She leaned forward, trying to catch his gaze as he looked away.  
"Nothing," he mumbled unconvincingly. He leaned back against the freezing cold metal, resting his head on the top of the bench and closing his eyes.  
"Nothing always means something, so tell me what that something is because it's obviously not nothing. Well? I'm waiting." She crossed her arms stubbornly and raised her eyebrows skeptically.  
"I said everything's fine, now please, drop it," he muttered, turning his head away from Sam's prodding glare. He didn't want her to know about Violet's invite, because surely she would want to investigate it herself, and no doubt Tucker would manage to tag along. He had to do this himself.  
"Fine. But you can tell me when you want to," Sam assured, not being intruding or rude for once. She kept her word and dropped the subject, but only to start up new conversation.  
"Why're you out here anyway? It's like below the fifties! I'll admit, I'm freezing," she said, trying to cheer Danny up.  
"I just...had to think. Without all the explosions and nagging back at my house. And let me tell you, sitting out in a snowstorm would be worth the alone time." He sat up straight and stuffed his hands deep into his coat pockets, savoring the remaining warmth they gave.  
Completely changing the subject, Sam said, "Have your parents been able to figure out how to fix the Assault Vehicle? Or should I say, RV? My parents gave the check for the money already."  
"Yeah, it'll be finished by the end of the week. Actually, do you know why they decided to donate the money? I've been curious..."  
"No, but I'll find out." Sam stared down at her shoes as she spaced off, imagining ways to get her parents to confess.  
Danny nodded knowingly. Sam's parents didn't especially like him, so it was a wonder as to why they'd willingly hand money to his parents to fix a weaponized ghost vehicle.  
Breaking thought from her schemes, Sam looked back to Danny. "So how did you destroy the vehicle? It wasn't cheap."  
He shrugged dismissively. "Well, I was hunting down Technus with the Assault Vehicle when I realized it wasn't the smartest thing to do. Technus overshadowed it and...well...drove it off the dock into the water. Long story short." He smiled ruefully.  
But Sam laughed, to his great surprise. She didn't seem mad at all.  
"You're not mad at my stupidity?" he asked with evident astonishment.  
"Do you want me to be? Geez, I'm not always a buzzkill."  
"Not always," Danny agreed. "But often."  
Sam gave him a fake annoyed frown and nudged him with her elbow playfully.  
"You'd think after one time of driving it off the dock would be enough, but no, not for Danny Fenton. And again, you'd think letting the vehicle be overshadowed by Technus once would also be enough, but no, not for Danny Fenton. You truly are a mystery." Sam laughed again. But she then stood up, sticking her own hands in her pockets.  
"I better go, my hour-of-freedom is about up and my parents will be expecting me. See you around," Sam farewelled, tightening her midnight jacket around herself, trying in vain to achieve warmth.  
"See you," Danny said, disappointed to be alone again. Sam noticed his decrease in liveliness and hesitated to leave, but opposed against it and left.  
He sighed and glanced at the bell tower. It read 8:34. There was still 36 more minutes. Yay.  
He stood up when the footsteps of Sam's combat boots faded away, leaving only the sound of the empty howling of the wind. He began walking in the opposite direction.  
The stinging cold scratched across his skin, making him numb. He shivered involuntarily and shut his eyes from the wind. The leaves scuttled dryly across the cracked pavement, their crumbling colors flitting briefly in and out of his narrowed vision. Twilight tinted the orangish clouds, and the sun had only minutes left of warming the world below it before it set completely. Still shivering, he leisurely walked to the meeting destination.  
** *******  
** Taking a deep breath she placed her frozen hand on the even colder metal knob, turned it slowly, expecting a deafening creak to follow, and peeked her head around the doorframe. The lights were out and the house was still, not a sound to be heard. Still cautious, she tentatively inched her foot forward, nudging the door ever farther. No sound. No movement. Nothing.  
She allowed her other foot to slip silently inside and fall in place beside her other foot. Now fully on the opposite side of the threshold, she leaned up against the door, pushing it shut with a soft thud. Still no sound.  
One step. Two step. Three. Each step made her feel more and more like a crook, sneaking into the bank, on the verge of getting away with the crime. And she would have gotten away with it too...if it weren't for her meddling parents.  
The lights flickered on, momentarily blinding her. She stuck her hand up in front of her eyes, blocking out the bright light that flooded through the kitchen.  
"And what do you think you're doing, young lady?" Mrs. Manson's dignified voice asked. When the white spots faded from her vision, Sam let her hand drop to her side limply. Pamela Manson had her white gloved hands on her hips, disapproval etched on her perfect features. Jeremy Manson, who had his arms crossed formally across his plaid-vest chest, didn't look too proud either.  
"Oh-ho. Hi mom, hi dad," Sam greeted in a voice two octaves higher than her regular tone. She held her hand up in a nervous wave, but gave up on trying to be innocent when her parents' glares became laser-like.  
"Do you mind telling us what you were doing out this time at night?" Mrs. Manson asked again, Mr. Manson seeming to have no say in the matter.  
"I was just walking around town-"  
"For three hours!"  
"Mom, it was only half an hour-"  
"And why were you out so long?"

"Please stop interr-"  
"Hm?"  
"I was just walking and ran into Danny, then I came home! Sheesh! Why're you-"  
"That's what I thought. That delinquent, that troublemaker, that-"  
"Bad influence?" Sam finished for her, being the interrupter for once. Now it was her turn to cross her arms, not in a snobby way, but in a defiant way.  
"Yes! He," she sneered the word "he", "is teaching you wrong ways and I am going to put a stop to it at once!"  
"What, are you going to put another restraint order on him?" Sam said sarcastically.  
Pamela spluttered, not able to calm herself. She threw her hands up. "Maybe! I'll-we'll..."  
"I'm going upstairs, don't worry. I'll put my self to bed," Sam announced, making her way to the stairs.  
But her mother wasn't finished. "We'll...we'll move! That's right! Start packing tomorrow morning!" She had a crazy, unstable look in her eyes. She twitched.  
Jeremy was perturbed by this specific statement. He unfolded his arms and turned to Pamela with a shocked expression. "What?"  
Mrs. Manson nodded her head eagerly, already warming to the idea. "Yes. Yes. We're moving. By...by...by Thursday! Mmhm. Yes." She had completely lost it. She was jittery and fidgeted uneasily.  
Sam flinched back, disturbed by her mother's sudden breakdown. "Uh, are you sure? You mean just around the block or something, right?"  
"Oh, no, no, no, no, no! Dear me, no! We're moving OUT of Amity Park. Out of this town and away from the Fentons! It'll be a new life for you and we can start new and-and..."  
"You're joking. What about the trip? I can still go, right?" Sam asked, tension forming a knot in her stomach. She needed to talk to Danny. And now.  
"Nope!" her mother chirruped merrily, smiling chaotically. "You'll be staying home for that! Just spending time with your loving family." Jeremy Manson realized he'd better take action before his wife's disordered state took an even worse turn.  
"Uh-huh, sweetie, why don't we get you to bed? You look a little deprived..."  
Her head snapped in his direction as he was about to put his hand comfortingly on her shoulder. He cringed back. He looked afraid that she would do something irrational.  
"Deprived of what? Some quality family time with a normal, un-goth, sociable, optimistic daughter and a supporting, un-suggestive husband? Ha! I've been living long enough to know that we need a change! And a big one at that! So if going to the extremes and packing up and leaving our only home to go out of the country-"  
"Wait, country?"  
"And settling into an entirely different and unfamiliar city gets me the family I want, then so be it!" Mrs. Manson spun sharply and stomped back to her room, her pearl white heels clicking all the way.  
"Dad?" Sam said, looking for someone reasonable. He simply looked back at her blankly, void of any thought.  
"I better go calm her down," he said after a few quiet seconds. He left abruptly and practically ran after Pamela.  
Then Sam's grandma rolled in on her scooter. "What's all the ruckus? I'm trying to sleep if you haven't noticed."  
"Sorry, Gram. Just go back to bed," Sam murmured, not wanting to upset her with the news of moving. But it was as if she read Sam's mind.  
"Did I hear something about "moving"? Because if my hearing aid isn't acting up on me and I heard correctly, well, that's a shame. Because we are NOT MOVING!" she shouted, probably intending for Pamela to hear. When no answer came, she wheeled around and went back to her bedroom, grumbling under her breath about "prissy rich people" and "ignorant sons".  
Sighing heavily, Sam ambled up the stairs, taking her time so she wouldn't have to go to bed and think about what had just happened. And now without any cellphone, computer, or any other device used for contacting, she was utterly helpless to tell Danny or Tucker. She'd have to wait until she got the rare chance to make a break for it.  
"Ouch!" she yelped as she ran into her door. She hadn't realized she was already up the stairs. Rubbing her forehead gingerly, Sam opened the door with vehemence and hurried in, slamming the door behind her. She yanked off her jacket that was of no use outside anymore and tossed it carelessly onto her bed, just before she plopped down herself on the warm, fuzzy covers. Kicking off her black combat boots, she crawled under the covers hastily, glad for the warmth. She closed her eyes and tried to sleep. But she waited and waited. Then she sighed.  
No use. She couldn't get to sleep with all the new thoughts running through her mind. What with the plans of moving, the trip, no communication, and Violet, Sam would be lucky to even imagine sleep at the rate she was going.  
So she laid there and let the thoughts race through her mind, beginning to think little of them as drowsiness covered her like a blanket. No sooner than 9:00 p.m., as it struck exactly on her bedside clock, was she asleep and dreaming. But those dreams instantaneously shifted to nightmares.

"Oh, I'm so glad you made it! I was afraid you were avoiding me," Violet cooed, relief taking over her voice. Danny Phantom landed without a sound, not answering.  
"Why did you ask me to come here?" he asked instead, his arms crossed and his face placid.  
Violet's cheery demeanor dissolved quickly when she realized he wasn't in the mood for pleasantries. Her soft gaze turned stone.  
"I suppose you want straight answers," she said, something like annoyance hidden deep within her words.  
"If you wouldn't mind, yes," Danny replied tersely, same level of ice. She nodded her head curtly, her dark purple eyes vaguely glowing in the fresh dusk.  
"Hm. I always did wonder about how the Ghost Boy would look in person, and now he's here, right in front of me. I really didn't expect this," Violet said conversationally, avoiding the question at hand. "And I wasn't faking it when I said you were cute."  
"You never said that."  
"Oh, I didn't? Well, now I just did." She shrugged her shoulders, as if nothing was at consequence. "Do tell me, how're you half ghost, half boy?"  
"I would love to," he said sarcastically. "But I'm afraid I have to ask you to stop stalling."  
Violet sighed in exasperation, irritated that he wouldn't fall for her attempt at distractions. Her glare snapped back to his vivid green eyes, all traces of antagonism gone.  
"You're right," she said surprisingly. "I should stop stalling. And I will. Let's get to the point as to why I have called you here." As she spoke in a low voice, she stepped closer and closer, her stare never breaking, never wavering. Her beautiful violet eyes didn't seem so beautiful anymore, they were threatening and controlling, he couldn't seem to look away as she closed the distance between them. She was now only hand length's away, practically no space between them. He was frozen to the spot, unable to move. The feeling was so familiar, the feeling of helplessness, like he couldn't do a thing to stop whatever happened next. But before he could will himself to speak, Violet beat him to it.  
"I've called you here for one reason, and one reason only. But I suppose I'd better show you than tell you," she muttered. He would have thought she was talking to herself if not for the fact she was eyeing him with a new intensity. She took a step back abruptly, but only one. A sudden purple flash forced Danny to shut his eyes tightly, but it only lasted for a moment. In the place of Violet now stood a dark, inky ghost, more like a shadow, with no actual features besides the wicked grin and glinting lavender eyes. The outline of the ghost was jagged and spiky, giving the effect that if you touched the ghost it would be sharp. The only defining features were the violet eyes and perfect figure that were obviously Violet's.  
It looked familiar...  
"And now, the reason for you're being here -well- like I said, why don't I just SHOW you?" And she lifted off the ground. With one last witchy smirk, she sped toward him, which wasn't far. Before he could react, he felt her plow into him, a sharp pain in his head, and everything was black.


	3. Amnesia

**Chapter 3 *Amnesia***

Ring! Ring! Ring!  
"Uugh..." Slapping her alarm clock, Sam snuggled deeper into the warm cocoon of her tangled blankets, letting herself slip farther into unconsciousness. In her near-sleep state, she could hear the creaking of the stairs as a pair of heels and formal shoes made their way up the steps. Murmuring voices followed and Sam knew she had only mere seconds of blissful comfort left, so she decided to just get up rather than let her parents in.  
She flung back her sheets and leapt to the door, flinging it open before they could knock. Coincidentally, she opened it to her mother's shaking hand. She still looked angry about the night before, but she tried to keep a tranquil expression. Jeremy stood right behind her, a distracted look in his eyes, almost tired. When he saw his daughter, he forced a smile, but it didn't reach his eyes.  
"You're breakfast is ready," Pamela said stiffly, talking to Sam as if she was a distant stranger, not her own blood and daughter. She refused to look her in the eye.  
'Two can play at this game,' Sam thought irately.  
"Fine. Thank you." Sam closed the door in her face. She didn't slam it; she wasn't that mad. At least, not at BOTH of them. She wasn't really angry at her father, just her mother.  
Sam waited till she heard the footsteps drift down the hall and then down the stairs. When she knew the coast was clear, she pulled on her shoes and grabbed her jacket after a few moments of indecision, then she gently opened the door back up and walked downstairs, remembering to act indifferent all the while. She didn't want her mom thinking she was upset by her avoidance. Honestly, she couldn't care less. Sitting down noisily, just to get on her mother's nerves, Sam picked up her fork with reluctance and poked at her breakfast, glaring at Mrs. Manson's back. Pamela Manson just ignored her like she wasn't even there. Mr. Manson saw, and could probably feel, the tension between them and tried to settle things down.  
"H-How about we all just sit down and enjoy this home-cooked meal, huh? That sounds like a great idea," he tried, his eyebrows raised to the point that he actually looked like he had no eyebrows at all. But to no avail. Mrs. Manson seemed to be ignoring him as well. She scurried around the kitchen, pretending to have tons of work to do. She fixed the angle of the pans, organized all the silverware in alphabetical formation, scrubbed the stove, and scrambled with the plates and bowls. She did all these trivial tasks just to evade her daughter and husband. Her own family. Sam felt a twinge of hurt from this new realization, but stamped it down with a passion, not wanting to fall into her mother's pitiful clutches. And by the looks of it, Sam's grandma was smart enough to skip breakfast.  
Sam stood up rigidly, her chair scraping loudly against the tiles. "I'm leaving," she announced, snatching her book bag fluidly and marching right out the door. She didn't wait for an "I love you", or a "Goodbye, have a nice day!". Why would she even bother? It's not like she got those any other regular day.  
Sam stopped by Tucker's house first, knocking impatiently.  
He opened it and stepped past her, seeming overly happy this glum, disappointing morning.  
"Hey, Sam! What?" he asked when he saw her sour expression.  
"Your happiness is annoying. Can't one girl have a horrible morning without some peppy little twit making it ten times worse?"  
He held his hands up in mock surrender, knowing to keep quiet when Sam was in one of her moods. Which was quite often. "Nope! Go ahead, resume your sulking, I won't interrupt!"  
"Never mind, I'm sorry. I just can't take anymore bad news."  
"Whaddya mean?"  
She looked at him with a weary attitude. "We're...moving."  
He stared at her vacuously. She continued, "My family and I are moving out of Amity Park. As in "not here"."  
"But-Why?" Tucker exclaimed, his eyes wide with confusion. Sam shook her head with the same feeling of confusion.  
"My mom is crazy! That's all I have to say! Crazy!"  
"Huh. So, this is like, for real?" he asked flatly, no emotion whatsoever.  
"Yup. She's lost it."  
They walked in silence. Neither of them said a word as they rounded the corner and neared Fenton Works.  
"How are you going to break it to Danny?" Tucker asked solemnly, worry filled his teal eyes.  
"I...I'll just say it. There's no need for avoiding the topic...I mean...there's no way to break it easily to him," Sam muttered bluntly. Tucker just nodded understandingly.  
Walking up the steps seemed to take forever, but when they finally reached the door, they glanced uncertainly at each other. An unspoken signal seemed to pass between them in that moment, a message that agreed to tell the truth no matter what happened. And when Sam thought about it, and no doubt Tucker was thinking the same thing, she really didn't know why she was making such a big deal out of telling Danny that she was moving away. She'd told Tucker just fine. She hadn't broken out in heart wrenching sobs or had a mental breakdown. She was fine. Sad, angry, disappointed, and worried, but fine.  
Sam's nervous amethyst eyes traveled back to the door, and she made her hand, if unwillingly, knock on the door precisely three times. At first, nothing happened. But then they could hear movement inside and the suspicious blend of multiple voices. It sounded like they were discussing something important in whispers, because still no one came to the door. Sam cleared her throat vociferously to get their attention. Everything quieted down. The voices stopped and the movement as well.  
Sam gave Tucker a weird look before she turned back to the wide door.  
"Um, hello? We can hear you," Sam called through the thick wood. Sam thought she heard someone whisper "quiet!", but couldn't be sure when the door swung open to reveal an exhausted-looking Jazz. She only opened the door a fraction, not wide enough for them to slip through and past her.  
"Yes?" she asked lightly, pretending to be patient.  
Jack came up behind Jazz, irritation written all over his face. "You tell whoever it is to stay away! I cannot deal with th-" But when Jack Fenton saw who it was, he froze mid-threat and put down his shaking fist. He looked tired, too. So did Maddie Fenton, who stood behind him depressingly. Her hands were clasped in front of her and her head hung. She shuffled away and back into the living room. Jack slouched over and rubbed his face, turning around and heading back into the house and out of view. The house was dark and none of the lights were on, like they'd just woken up. Jazz caught on to their confusion and fidgeted uneasily.  
"W-What time is it, exactly?" she asked, tilting her head towards them to hear their answer.  
Snapping out of her puzzlement, Sam shook her head. "It's 8:30. School."  
"What? Oh! I better get ready!" Jazz began to shut the door, but Tucker stuck his foot between the doorway and the door.  
"Jazz, what's wrong? Why're you all...like this?" Tucker asked, gesturing to the whole Fenton family. Except for Danny, who didn't seem to be anywhere near. Tucker's apprehension was building to its highest.  
"I just...overslept," she replied lamely. "And my parents...they're just tired from working. Yeah." The excuse was totally unconvincing, but she didn't give any more information.  
"Jazz, I know you're lying. It's obvious. What's-"  
"I have to get ready, see you guys later." She tried to shut the door again, but faster. Tucker caught it with his hand just before it closed.  
"Wait, where's Danny?"  
Jazz flinched at the name "Danny", and looked away jadedly. Her left hand came up to grasp her upper right arm.  
"He's not here," she whispered resignedly, and shut the door before they could ask more.  
"So, is he, like, at school already, or something?" Tucker asked through the door. No answer.  
Finally, Sam tugged on his sleeve to get him to move. Her eyebrows were knitted together, but she motioned for them to get going. They didn't want to be late.  
Once again on their way to seven hours of torture, their footsteps fell in unison, sounding as one pair of feet.  
"What's with Jazz?" Tucker eventually asked. He kept his eyes straight ahead.  
"You mean what's with ALL of them?" Sam corrected, wondering the same thing. "They look so tired and depressed. It's...different seeing Mr. and Mrs. Fenton like that. They're usually talking a mile a minute."  
"Yeah, and Jazz was so out of it. She didn't seem to remember we had school. Usually she's the one nagging us to do good in our academics so we don't end up in jail. You know, I've always questioned that theory..."  
"No, Tucker, you won't go to jail for failing school," Sam said flatly, irascible at his easily distracted personality.  
"Oh. That's a relief." He sighed.  
Rolling her eyes, Sam asked, "So what do you think she meant when she said Danny wasn't there?"  
"I'm not sure. But he may be at school."  
"And do you honestly believe that? The way Jazz said it made it sound as though they were mourning his death rather than him being at school."  
"That's true. But it's a possibility."  
"Well, yeah, I guess. But not a likely one. Something's up," Sam said apprehensively.  
"Chill out. It's probably nothing," Tucker said, trying to console her. She didn't buy it.  
The school appeared quickly and they hurried to class, already 10 minutes late.  
"Remember, Sam. Don't worry yourself over it. Promise?" Tucker reminded. He was genuinely concerned. She nodded absently, crossing her fingers behind her back. She wasn't promising anything.  
"Sure, whatever."  
School dragged. It felt like it was twice as long and twice as boring. All she heard the teachers say was "blah, blah, blah," and didn't pay attention to Paulina when she commented on Sam's outfit like she did every other day.  
She finally snapped out of her trance-like state when Tucker flicked her upside the forehead at lunch.  
"Sam? Sam? You awake?" Tucker asked as he waved his hand back and forth in front of her face.  
Jumping, she looked around dazedly. "Huh? Wha-? O-Oh. Mmhm, I'm fine! Great."  
He sat back down with a wary look. Eyeing her suspiciously, he said, "Are you thinking about the Fentons? I told you not to worry!"  
"No! I'm not!" Sam protested, splaying her hands out irritatingly.  
"Sam," he said knowingly. He raised an eyebrow.  
"Fine! But don't tell me you haven't been worried either!" she challenged, pursing her lips.  
"Of course! It's all I can think about! But don't you think we should save this talk for after school?" he whispered conspicuously, cupping his hand to the side of his mouth. He subtly flicked his turquoise eyes to an eavesdropping Violet, who stood casually with a nearly empty tray about arm's length away. She gave them a brief, unfriendly smile. She moved on, stalling to hear more, then sat down only a table away. She was still listening as she started up a ploy conversation with another student.  
"Why's she being so...rude?" Sam asked, remembering the radiant, smiling Violet that she had seen the last time she'd been at Danny's house.  
Tucker was still staring at her darkly. "I don't know, but I don't trust her."  
"That's what I said the first time!" Sam exclaimed, frustrated that Tucker was taking the credit for distrusting Violet first. It was totally her idea.  
"Okay! Settle down!" Tucker whispered harshly. Violet was still listening. After that they went the rest of the school day in silence, occasionally exchanging hellos or casual everyday things, because no matter where they were, Violet was there. She never missed a chance to spy on them, and it became immensely bothersome.  
When the last bell rang Sam zipped up and out of the school doors, begrudgingly waiting for Tucker as he packed his book bag in mega snail speed.  
"What's taking so long?" Sam whined when he ambled up to her.  
"Violet was stalking my locker, I had to get rid of her! I told her I would meet her outback," he explained in a near whispering voice.  
"And are you?" she asked.  
"Nope. Let's go!" he yelled when he reached the sidewalk. He ran past, arms flinging wildly, and up the street.  
After overcoming her confused shock, she called, "Whoa! Wait up!" And took off after him.  
It took only minutes to reach Fenton Works at the speed they were going. Sam had easily outrun Tucker by the time they had reached the corner of the street.  
Skidding to a stop at the bottom of the steps, Sam took two at a time. Tucker, well, he couldn't stop fast enough and barreled into the trashcan that sat at the end of the pavement.  
"Tucker, we don't have time for this! Stop playing around!" Sam scolded, bounding back down the steps to help him untangle himself. He simply groaned in response. Sam helped him up and went back to the door. Tucker scrabbled to hurry to the door as Sam knocked three times again, just as before.  
But, being Tucker, he managed to ram straight into Jazz and end up on his face for the third time that hour. He'd had a run-in with Dash earlier.  
"Ow! What in the world!" Jazz screamed when Tucker crashed into her, sending them both flying back into the house. Sam watched with all this with an amused smile, and stepped widely over a sprawled Tucker and a baffled Jazz.  
"Hi, Jazz! Just droppin' in," Sam said as she yanked both of them up off the ground. She was still snickering as Jazz brushed off her pants.  
"That's one way to get my attention," Jazz grumbled.  
"Sorry, I'm not very hand, foot, eye - and for that matter - body coordinated," Tucker apologized, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. Taking a long look around, he stopped rubbing his neck and walked slowly into the living room.  
"Why's it so dark? Where're all the lights?" he asked, sitting down heavily. Sam and Jazz followed him in, but Jazz seemed distracted. It took a few moments for her to answer.  
"We haven't been...around lately."  
"What do you mean?" Sam asked, eyebrows furrowed. When Jazz spoke it was faltering and hesitant, like she didn't want to tell them anymore than she had to. She never really looked straight at them when she spoke, she was always fidgeting or messing around with strands of hair and miscellaneous objects.  
"Well-" she started.  
"Jazz! We better get going, honey!" Maddie Fenton's voice called from somewhere else in the house. Jazz glanced at the doorway, then back at Sam and Tucker. They waited for her response.  
She eventually sighed in defeat, swatting her hand backwards for them to follow. "Come on. I suppose you're still his friends." Then she left the room, leaving them as confused as ever. She poked her head back around the woodwork. "Coming?"  
"Uh, yeah, sure. But where are we going?" Sam asked, not moving despite her words.  
Jazz grew grave again, saddening at Sam's curiosity.  
"You'll see," was all she said. Sam glanced at Tucker, who gave a halfhearted smile and a shrug. Sam looked back to where Jazz had been standing, then with a deep breath, went after her. Tucker came right behind her. Jazz was waiting at the door patiently and went out when they came along. Then they all got into the Fenton RV. Maddie and Jack were already in their seats talking in hushed tones. When Sam and Tucker climbed in, they stopped talking all together. Sam threw Jazz a questioning glance, but she ignored it, utterly focused on the outside world. And in the midst of all the silence and unspoken words, Tucker found the urge to blurt something out.  
"Wait, where's Danny?"  
Nobody answered, but that just made Sam all the more paranoid.  
"What aren't you telling us?" she snapped. "Where is he?" But again, silence. Instead of prying for more answers, Sam crossed her arms heatedly and sighed loudly. Would they ever explain? Suddenly, Tucker reached over and patted her shoulder in an effort to comfort her. She knew he meant well but didn't want to be bothered, so she just gave him a short, grateful, emotionless grin and turned to the window to watch the newly falling drops of rain race down the glass. Tucker knew this was a sign to back off, so he turned to his own side of the seat and, within a matter of seconds, was snoring softly.  
As the vehicle hit a pothole, Sam was jerked awake when her head hit the window pane. She hadn't realized she'd fallen asleep, and found her awakening rather harsh. Yawning, she shook Tucker awake.  
"How long have we been asleep?" she asked, suppressing another yawn.  
He checked his watch drowsily. "Half an hour to an hour." He looked up to see Jazz still in the exact same position from before they'd fallen asleep. She was rigid and stared out the window unseeingly.  
"Jazz? Are you okay?" Sam asked, following Tucker's gaze. Jazz jumped at the sound of her name and whirled around frantically.  
"What? Oh, yeah. I'm just tired. I'm fine."  
"Why're you so tired? And them, too." Tucker gestured to Mr. and Mrs. Fenton, who was falling asleep at the wheel. "Watch out!"  
Jack's eyes widened and he swerved, narrowly missing a school bus.  
"We were up all night, okay? I was worried when he didn't come home and then we set out to find him...and-and when we did...I didn't know what to do! So I called my parents and they came and the-then we stayed up with him, waiting for him to wake up! But...he didn't...I was just so worried and they're worried and I don't want you to worry, so I didn't tell you so you wouldn't worry! And then he did wake up...but he doesn't...he doesn't..." Jazz muttered in a rush. It looked like she was talking to herself the way she spoke and stared down at the floor blankly. She looked extremely exhausted, and they could tell the lack of sleep was taking its toll on her.  
"Jazz, Jazz, sshh. Relax, it's okay," Sam soothed, uncomfortable by Jazz's out-of-mind condition. She was itching to bombard Jazz with questions, but figured it would be the best idea at the moment. Jazz was shaking.  
"How late were you up? You look...eh," Tucker said, concerned.  
"All night. When you came by this morning, we'd just gotten home," Jazz murmured, laying down with heavy lids. "We'd just gotten home from the..." And she was sleeping, her eyelids fully closed. Her breathing was even and she looked deep into sleep already. Jack Fenton glanced back at them in the mirror with envy, obviously wishing he was the one laying down.  
"What do you think that all meant?" Sam asked Tucker anxiously. She was speaking in a whisper, afraid to wake Jazz. Tucker just shrugged his shoulders feebly, unable to come up with an explanation.  
"Are we almost there...wherever that is?" Tucker asked. Maddie nodded her head but didn't say anything. Abruptly, a thought came to mind. Sam thought about what she'd said earlier when they had been heading to school.  
"We're not going to the funeral home, right?" she asked, leaning out of her seat.  
Maddie actually laughed, a short, bark of a laugh, but a laugh nevertheless. "No, we're not. Although I guess it does seem that way, the way we've been acting. Don't worry."  
Sam allowed herself to breath. "Okay, thank goodness."  
"Would one of you please wake Jazz? We're here," Jack said, turning on the windshield wipers. Tucker struggled to wake her up as Sam unbuckled quickly and clambered to the front, leaning against the two front seats to see through the blurred glass. They'd reached their destination. The hospital.  
Sam blanched.  
"What? What happened? You're just visiting a relative or friend or something, right?" Sam scrambled for the words, unsure of their motives.  
"Right. Relative," Jack muttered. Tucker came to the front to see what the big deal was. When he saw where they were, apprehension dawned on his face.  
Jazz stretched behind them, saying through a yawn, "Are we there?"  
"Yes. Let's go," Maddie replied. None of them had any real emotion in them, they all seemed drained. Sam began to wonder how their night had really gone. And more importantly, she wondered how bad it was that they were pushed to such depression. She dreaded to know, so she didn't ask.  
She still had a dying hope that it wasn't who she thought it was that they were talking about. It could be any family member! But of course, her fears were confirmed and her hope snuffed out when Jack was talking to the secretary.  
"Danny Fenton. Yes. Third floor. Mmhm. Thank you." And they got on the elevator. Sam's stomach seemed to be doing flips, and not just because of the elevator. So this is why Jazz had kicked them out in the morning and it explained her weariness. This is why Danny hadn't walked with them to school and hadn't shown up. What had he been doing last night? There was something he hadn't wanted to tell her, could this be the result of whatever it was? And if so, why hadn't he said anything? When he was better, she'd ask these questions. First, she had to help in any way she could.  
The elevator lights flashed at the top and rung once. The silver doors opened with a swoosh and revealed a pure white lobby. The air was stale with disinfectant and medicine. A small TV sat on the far side of the lobby and a couch and a chair encircled it, with only three people occupying them. None of them seemed to know one another, so no conversation was heard. The TV was on mute and had the words flowing across them, too fast for anyone to actually care to read. Without the sound of TV or talking, the silence was deafening, only the ringing in their ears to be heard. A doctor or nurse milled through, but that was it. No matter their job or profession, they all went back behind the huge, metallic doors to the far right that led to the patient's rooms.  
Sam let the scene sink in and determined it as a little creepy, only because it looked so empty. But that thought triggered a memory and she gasped and turned to Tucker.  
"Aren't you deadly afraid of hospitals?" she asked worriedly. Even as she said it she knew she was right. He was frozen to the spot and stared straight ahead, plain to see in his eyes that he was not too happy to be here. But amazingly, he managed to nod his head once. She didn't think he'd be able to move, because he was so rigid.  
"Come on, you two. The elevator's closing," Jazz said as she and her family moved into the waiting room.  
"Oh, right. Tuck, get over it just this once," Sam firmly said. She grabbed his arm and tugged him out, just as the door was closing. They heard the click as it snapped shut.  
"Is he okay?" Maddie asked fearfully, probably not wanting a throw up scene.  
"Naw, he's great, he's just...nervous," Sam said, swatting her hand dismissively. Tucker was stock still.  
"Maybe he should sit out here and wait," Maddie suggested, still unsure about letting Tucker around other patients if he was ill.  
"Nope! I feel fantastic! Let's go!" Tucker practically shouted, perking up immediately and breaking from his fear-induced state. Sam guessed he didn't want to be alone. He began making his way toward the metal doors and stopped, waiting for them to catch up.  
Sam was surprised by his bravado, but went along with them. Now passing the the dividing doors, she could see the ongoing doorways of rooms. There was more nurses and doctors zipping through and around, none of them stopping to chat or ask them anything. Which Sam felt just fine with. She didn't want Tucker hyperventilating.  
"310, 311, 312...here. Room 313," Sam heard Jack muttering to himself. The door was closed and no sound came from inside. It was still that endless silence. Sam felt queasiness become overpowering and she took a deep breath to calm herself.  
"Before we go in, how serious is it?" she asked, the uneasiness washing over her again.  
"Well, in terms, pretty bad. But physically, I don't quite know. But I'm sure the doctors will figure it out...hopefully," Jazz informed, trying to put on a reassuring face, but failing miserably.  
"Oh." Sam literally had no idea what that meant, but pretended to know exactly what Jazz was talking about.  
Jack put his hand on the doorknob and glanced at Sam and Tucker, but for what reason they don't know. Then he opened the door wide enough only for them to get in and they all went in single file. Tucker went ahead of Sam, so she was last in the line. As she went in, she closed her eyes tightly. She didn't want to see.  
"Sam, can you please shut the door?" she heard someone ask. She didn't look to see who it was, but she shut the door quietly, eyes still closed. She could still hear the shuffling of everyone's feet as they all got settled into the small room. She heard a pair of feet that were faster than anybody else's, and it seemed to be Jazz, because she could hear her sniffle and then the groan of a chair as she sat down. When everyone stopped moving around, Sam decided it was time to open her eyes.  
Opening her eyes, she saw Tucker in the corner of the room, a bit pale, rocking on his heels and hugging his arms. He was still creeped out by the whole hospital thing. Jack and Maddie Fenton were standing side by side with their arms around each other a little ways off. Jazz was sitting in a chair next to the hospital bed, her hand in Danny's.  
As far as Sam could tell, he was perfectly fine. No casts, no cuts, no bandages. His head was tilted to the side and his right arm lay across his stomach. He looked like he was just sleeping.  
Confused, she asked, "What happened? He looks okay to me."  
"I thought I explained to you earlier," Jazz said.  
"Well, you weren't very decipherable."  
"Oh. Well, he never came home last night, so I was worried. I set out to find him and...I did. But he wasn't conscious and I panicked. I called my parents and they came. They had no idea what to do, so we called 911. They came and we rode along. We stayed up all night waiting. When Danny eventually woke up...he...he didn't...he doesn't...remember." Jazz's eyes filled with tears but she managed to wipe them away before they could fall.  
"But...I don't understand," Sam complained, getting frustrated with Jazz.  
"He doesn't remember...us. Nothing. Not even his own name!" Jazz was near to hysteria. "The doctors can't figure it out! They're completely lost."  
Sam didn't know what to say. Or if she should say something.  
But as she searched for anything to say, the door opened and banged into her.  
"Oh, dear! I'm so sorry! Excuse me," whoever it was apologized. Sam stepped out of the way quickly and let them pass by. A doctor with gray hair and a mustache came bustling in, clipboard in hand.  
"Hello, are you Mr. and Mrs. Fenton?" He pointed to Jack and Maddie.  
"Yes," they answered in unison. The doctor beckoned them with his finger and they followed out into the hall. The door was left slightly ajar and Sam leaned against the wall to eavesdrop on the conversation. Jazz's explanation wasn't totally satisfying.  
"So?" she heard Jack say.  
"There's no evident reports of head trauma. We took some tests, but nothing's wrong. Nothing that we can detect, at least. We have no idea how and why this happened, but we'll keep trying. Trust me, we'll do everything in our power to figure this out. We've been monitoring heart and brain activity, but there's no abnormal occurrences as far as we can see. He's been asleep since 2:00 p.m. and hasn't woken up since. The time is 4:45 p.m. He refuses to speak to us and hasn't eaten yet. He doesn't trust us enough."  
"And has he...?" Maddie trailed off, assuming he knew what she meant.  
And he did. Shaking his head dismally, he said, "No signs of remembrance. I'm sorry." They just nodded their heads in acceptance, but obviously didn't accept it.  
Sam heard their footsteps coming back and darted away from the door so they wouldn't know she was listening. They came in looking as they did before, but anyone could see they were a little distraught. But they tried their best to look indifferent.  
"Tucker, sweetie, would you mind coming out from that corner? You should be over here when he wakes up," Maddie said. Tucker looked up from his arms and walked haltingly over. He stood beside Jack and Maddie, unsure of what to do. Sam glanced back at Jazz, who had already fall back asleep on the edge of the bed. Sam guessed she wasn't used to lack of sleep.  
"What do we do now?" Sam asked, the excruciating silence becoming awkward, and finding the only thing to look at, being Danny, quiet and unconscious, unsettlingly upsetting. She didn't want to see him when he was like this. It didn't feel right. He always had something to say to break the tension, or some smart comeback if someone insulted him. He was easygoing, but he could be high-strung when the time was right. She was nervous to see what he would say when he was awake.  
"What can we do? We'll just have to wait till he wakes up. We don't like to leave him alone now that he has no memory of us. We want his first, new memories to be with his family." Maddie Fenton spoke like she was talking about the death of her son, which, in a strange, sad way, was true. It broke Sam's heart.  
"Aaachoooo!" Tucker sneezed, which was probably the loudest sound in the hospital. Sam heard multiple doors slam shut out in the hallway, possibly the annoyed patients and family that didn't want to be interrupted from whatever they were doing. She also heard the crumpling of sheets and blankets and the screeching of a chair as it scraped against the snow white flooring.  
Jazz had been startled awake and jumped up from her seat. Danny stirred in his sleep.  
"Tucker!" Jazz hissed, fully awake. She gave him an accusatory glare and glanced back to Danny, waiting to see if he woke up. The doctor from earlier came bumbling in and Sam got a glimpse at his name card. His name was Dr. Gorrison. He scurried in with the same clipboard and searched around the room.  
"What was that?" he nearly screeched.  
"I sneezed," Tucker said bashfully, raising his hand hesitantly. He gave an uneasy grin as he shifted his weight from foot to foot.  
"Really? It sounded like a cat was being put through a shredder. Well, if that's the case, carry on."  
Sam watched them converse amiably, but saw a movement out of the corner of her eye. Jazz was sitting back in the same seat as before and talking to a dreary Danny. He looked utterly confused and perplexed. The heart monitor sped up a bit as he seemed to panic. And no wonder, he was technically in a room full of strangers and had no idea what was going on.  
The doctor noticed he was awake also and came to the opposite side of the bed.  
Bending down to eye level with Danny, he said cheerfully, "Ah-ha, Danny, you're awake."  
He stared at him blankly. "Huh?"  
"Danny. Your name is Danny."  
"Oh. It is?"  
"Yes. We went over this a while ago. And I'm Dr. Gorrison. This is Maddie and Jack Fenton, or rather, your mother and father. Remember? You spoke earlier with them." Danny nodded tersely. "And this here is Jasmine Fenton, your sister. Again, you met earlier." He nodded again. "And here are your best friends...What's your name?"  
"Tucker Foley."  
"And I'm Sam Manson."  
"Oh, yes. This is Tucker Foley and Sam Manson. Do you remember them?"  
Danny eyed them warily, but, unfortunately, shook his head no. Dr. Gorrison sighed but didn't argue.  
"I see. Now that you're awake, are you hungry? You can trust us." Dr. Gorrison was speaking quietly to Danny, trying to get him to calm down. Danny flinched away and shook his head, but his eyes gave him away. He did look hungry.  
"Okay, but if you want anything, anything at all, just ask," Dr. Gorrison assured. He didn't want to pressure him; that would just make him panic more.  
"Well, Danny, I'll leave you to speak with your family and friends." Dr. Gorrison stood up to his full height and nodded his farewell. He took long strides out into the hall, going to attend some other, random patient.  
Sam rushed to Danny's side as soon as the doctor left. Jazz gave her a warning look, silently telling her to ease up if she didn't want to frighten him. Sam nodded reluctantly and took a step back. Even Jazz's chair was farther away from the bed. Jack, Maddie, and Tucker hurried to the end of the bed as well.  
"How're you feeling?" Jazz asked, worry etched into her eyes. She did well to hide it, though.  
Danny looked at her cautiously, refusing to speak. He nodded his head.  
"Danny, do you seriously not remember us?" Tucker asked despairingly, sitting on the edge of the mattress.  
He shook his head, to Sam's disappointment.  
"You can speak, it's alright," Maddie coaxed, afraid he would go on shaking and nodding his head for the rest of his life.  
Sam decided to ask some worded questions, so he'd have to talk. She longed to hear his voice, even if it had only been one night and half a day without it.  
"Do you remember how old you are?"  
He hesitated and retreated farther back into the bed, still distrustful. But he found his voice and said, "I-I don't know...eight?"  
"Uh, no. You're 14," Tucker snorted, finding humor in the bleak situation.  
"Are you sure? Hm," he said, seeming to take this new information very seriously. He settled down a little, but didn't lose his wariness.  
Sam rummaged for more questions to keep him talking. "How about what year it is?"  
He shook his head. She didn't know what else to ask.  
"Do you know-"  
But Dr. Gorrison came back in with a tray of food. He didn't say anything, but sat the tray down on the bedside table and left. Sam looked back to Danny, waiting to see if he said anything. But he showed no sign of acknowledgement. Or he just still didn't trust him. Or anyone.  
"Oh! Wait!" Jack suddenly shouted, chasing after Dr. Gorrison out into the hall. Danny jumped and flinched back.  
"Dad!" Jazz scolded. She turned back to Danny and started to reach for his hand, but he cringed back, and she pulled her hand back as she remembered. Sighing, she slumped back down into her chair.  
Tucker sprung up from shock and accidentally knocked over the tray of food, which clattered loudly to the ground. The sound reverberated throughout the tiny room.  
Sam tripped over the fallen tray and ran into the machines on the side of the room, getting tangled in the wires and unplugging over half of them.  
"I think we should all just settle down!" Maddie Fenton announced, but as she said this, Tucker stumbled into her and they both tripped over the bed. Tucker collapsed onto Jazz's lap and the chair flipped backwards. Maddie fell onto the other chairs, sending them tipping.  
Dr. Gorrison and Jack came back in at the last moment when Maddie sent the last chair to the ground with a dull thud.  
It was an eyeful, that was for sure. Danny sat stiffly and stared straight ahead, a little over the frightened level. If the heart monitor machine had still been plugged in, thanks to Sam, it would have sounded like one continuous, monotonous beep.  
"Uh, oops?" Tucker said, putting his hand up in a lame wave. He was still laying flat on his back.  
"Well, I was just asking Doc here when Danny could come home, but I'm not sure if we're going to have to wait longer in case one of you would like to stay? No broken bones, right?"  
"Nope!"  
"I'm great!"  
"I'm not sure..."  
"Fine."  
"Eh," Danny replied, still frozen.  
"Hey! What happened to the machines?" Dr. Gorrison asked sharply, glaring daggers at Sam. He roughly untangled her and pushed her all too unkindly away from the cords, which cause her to get caught in another wire and trip onto the other side of the bed.  
"Ow! Ugh, sorry," she apologized to Danny. Dr. Gorrison frantically shoved all the plugs back into their original places and muttered to himself angrily.  
Straightening up, he said, "Now, as we were saying, he can go home anytime today. If he doesn't remember anything by tomorrow morning, it's...I'm sorry and regretful to say, hopeless. Now, if you wouldn't mind, please leave before you break anything else!"  
"Of course, of course! Kids, hurry it up! Danny, you just wait."  
"I can do that."  
Sam, Tucker, and Jazz went out into the hallway to wait. The doctor shut the door so he could speak privately with Danny and his parents.  
"Darn it, Tuck! What the heck!" Sam bursted, throwing her hands up.  
"What? What about Jazz?"  
"What? I didn't do anything! You're the one who tripped into the cords!"  
"Me? Tuck hit the tray!"  
"Mr. Fenton scared me!"  
"You fell into my lap!"  
"I never said I didn't!"  
The door flew open.  
"Excuse me! What's going on?" the doctor demanded, his beady little eyes narrowed.  
"Nothing!" they all hollered at him in unison. But then they realized who they were talking to and stopped mid-scream.  
"Very well. Goodbye," he replied sharply, putting no effort in keeping the venom out of his voice.  
Jack, Maddie, and Danny came out of the room eventually. Danny's arms were folded across his chest as he shuffled out of the room, avoiding everybody's eyes. Sam came to stand beside him, as well as Jazz and Tucker. Sam risked putting her hand on his shoulder in an attempt to help him relax. He didn't shy away, but she saw a fleeting, thankful smile as he looked at her, but it disappeared as quickly as it had come. He seemed to be easing into his new life, whether he wanted to or not. So that meant he must be accepting that these two people he'd never even, technically, met were his best and only friends.  
"Well, Danny my boy, we better get home," Jack said, trying to resume life as normal. It would be difficult and everyone knew it.  
At first Danny didn't respond, but he realized Jack was talking to him when he noticed everyone was watching.  
"Oh! Um, right." He gave them a halfhearted thumbs up.  
As they headed out, Sam swore she heard the doctor say "Good riddance", but couldn't be sure, because Jack tripped on the wheel of a wheelchair and tumbled into Tucker, Tucker into Sam, Sam into Maddie, Maddie into Jazz, and Jazz into Danny. One big chain reaction. And one thing led to another, they were all at the bottom of the second floor stairs.  
"What just happened?" Danny asked, leaning against the far wall. His sparrow black hair was even more mussed than usual.  
"I'm not sure, but I don't think we'll be allowed back in the hospital anytime soon," Tucker replied dazedly, getting up, but only to fall back down from dizziness. "And I'm okay with that."  
"I suggest we leave before we end up putting more patients in danger," Jazz clarified, standing up and walking down the rest of the stairs.  
"Wait for me!" Tucker yelled as he hurried to get away before he could trip anyone else. But as he neared the top of the first few steps, Sam heard a repetitive thumping. He must have tripped again. Soon after, the thudding stopped and they heard him groan in pain.  
"I'm okay," he called up.  
"I'm surrounded by morons!" Jazz shouted from below. She must have gotten caught in Tucker's carelessness.  
"Oh dear..." Maddie sighed, she got up and helped Jack. He'd been the most unfortunate and was now in a very inhumanly position.  
"Hehe," Sam laughed nervously. "Ta-da? This is your family..."  
"Am I always going to be in mortal danger?" Danny asked flatly.  
"Well...yeah. But don't worry, we'll help you."  
"That's not very reassuring."  
"I know."  
"Are you coming? We better keep moving if we want to get back before 7:00," Maddie interrupted. Jack stood slumped over beside her, looking very disoriented. They nodded and hurried down the next flight of stairs.  
Now out of the hospital, everyone was squished into the RV. Danny looked around the inside with evident curiosity, but couldn't get up to actually look at anything because he was smashed between Tucker and Sam, who were both just as cramped. There was no way to get up without elbowing someone else in the face or ribs.  
"What's this?" Danny asked, pointing at another button on the walls of the vehicle. It was the ninth question he'd asked since they'd set foot in the Assault Vehicle.  
"That's the eject button," Sam answered. Jazz had fallen back asleep and Tucker was busy on his PDA.  
"And this?"  
"Ecto guns."  
"This?"  
"Ghost shield."  
"What about this?"  
"That...I actually don't know," she admitted with aversion. It was a big, red button, smack in the middle of the panel. But before Sam could shout out a warning, Danny reached forward and pushed it.  
Nothing happened for a few minutes. They waited with bated breath, no one moved a muscle.  
Then, they all screamed. The window wipers squeaked back and forth over the dripping window shield.  
Jazz's hand went to her heart as she steadied her breathing. "Ugh! Stop scaring me! I just want to get one simple hour of sleep in, if you don't mind being normal for that long!"  
"Jazz is back," Sam muttered. She was genuinely relieved by her change in attitude. Being around Jazz earlier was unnerving, but now it didn't even seem like Danny had...lost...his memory. He caught on quickly to names, which was good, she guessed. But she still found it hard to believe he didn't think of her as anything more than a distant stranger.  
"That was lucky, but next time, don't press the red button, they usually blow things up," Tucker informed Danny abstractedly, still absorbed with his PDA. Sam was tempted to snatch it and throw it against the wall.  
"Got it. No red buttons." Danny stuffed his arms into his jacket, still rattled from the fall down the stairs.  
They rode home in silence, but there was occasional snips of conversation. But mostly uneasy friction. Being stuck so close together didn't help to break the gaucheness.  
"When will we be there?" Tucker complained shrilly when Jazz kicked him for the umpteenth time as she tried to rearrange herself into a more pleasing sleeping position.  
"Any minute now," Jack said densely, gripping the steering wheel with a vehement hold, his patience kindling down to barely a flame. Tucker shrank back when he heard the edge to his voice, afraid to snuff out the remaining bit of patience Mr. Fenton had left.  
"We're moving as fast as we can," Maddie added.  
"Actually, no, we're not. My driving is usually five times as fast and six times as reckless, but I didn't want to...you know," Jack said lowly to Maddie, subtly nodding his head toward the back seat.  
Something in Mrs. Fenton's words had aroused an unpleasant memory in Sam. She reran her sentence and picked the offending adjective out at once. Moving. She now found no reason to tell Danny. He probably wouldn't notice if she left. And right then and there she finalized to go on the camping trip whether her parents liked it or not.


	4. Violet vs Valerie

**Chapter 4 *Violet vs Valerie***

****  
The next day in school would be the longest of their lives, but this vital piece of information was sadly unknown to them.  
Now walking the halls with Sam on one side and Tucker on the other, Danny let the sights sink in.  
"And over there is Dash and his crew. Avoid him. And speaking of crews, there's Paulina and her friends. Also avoid at all costs," Sam instructed, being especially strict on the last part.  
"Are they bad?" Danny asked, truly baffled as to why he had to avoid such nice looking people.  
"Yes! Particularly Paulina. Just saying."  
"Paulina's not all that bad! Come on, Sam, don't be jealous," Tucker jested. Sam didn't take it lightly.  
"Oh, yes, she is! And I'm NOT jealous! I'm telling the truth," said Sam.  
"Don't fill his head with lies! I agree to avoid Dash, but not Paulina-"  
Sam interjected rudely, reaching across in front of Danny and yanking Tucker's crimson beret down to cover his eyes and mouth. His voice was muffled immediately and he stuck his hands straight out, just before he tripped over his shoelaces and tripped headlong into a trashcan.  
"Sam! Sam! Help me!" his echoing voice shouted from the bottom of the can. Sam turned and led Danny amiably away, leaving Tucker to fight his way through the garbage.  
"As I was saying, just pretty much don't talk to anyone unless we - I - give the okay, okay?"  
"Okay," he agreed understandably, nodding his head enthusiastically. Suddenly Violet came bouncing up to them, her ravishingly red lips spread wide into a beautiful smile. Her auburn curls were piled atop her head into a delicately loose bun and her lilac eyes glistened with excitement, radiating the happiness that Sam despised.  
"Hello, Sam. Hi, Danny! I'm Violet, but I'm sure you don't remember me."  
"Um, Sam?" Danny asked timidly.  
Sam didn't let her eyes drift away from Violet's, but she answered, "Yes?"  
"Can I talk?"  
"Yeah, yeah. I guess," she allowed unhappily. Still staring Violet down, she wondered how Violet had known about his amnesia. Oddly, Sam hadn't been thinking it was amnesia after all, but something way more serious. Something that involved Violet as the culprit.  
"So, do you want to sit with me at lunch?" Violet asked charmingly, batting her long, dark eyelashes attractively.  
Danny glanced at Sam to make sure it was definitely alright to speak, but chose to nod his head instead. Her smile renewed into an even prettier one. She put her hand up and waggled her fingers in farewell, leaving only the memory of her suspiciousness to be dwelled upon.  
"You're an idiot," Sam finally said.  
"What? Why?" Danny asked indignantly, shrugging his shoulders.  
"Just because." And she walked on ahead to first period.  
Tucker was neither seen nor heard from all first, second, third, and fourth period. Sam began to worry he was still lodged in the trashcan, but as they passed it on their way to lunch he was nowhere to be seen.  
"Have you seen Tuck?" she asked Danny.  
"Nope. Why? I thought you shoved him in that trashcan for a reason."  
She barely sustained a fit of laughter. "True, true. But I didn't mean for him to miss school. I'm worried."  
Danny began to realize she was serious, and soon sensed he should be worried, too. And although it wasn't a very cheerful problem, Sam felt overjoyed on the inside. Danny supposedly hadn't forgotten everything. He seemed to still care for his friends even when he wasn't as close as he used to be with them.  
"Never mind. Found him," Sam muttered, catching sight of Tucker at their usual table. Violet sat beside him, her vibrant smile annoying as ever.  
They walked over, if Sam a little unwilling, and plopped down simultaneously.  
"Danny, Tucker and I were just talking about you!" Violet crowed, flashing her winning smile at him.  
"You were?"  
"Of course! I was just speaking to him about how-"  
"Give me a break!" Sam groaned, tilting her head back to the ceiling in vexation.  
Violet cocked her head. "Excuse me?"  
She snapped. That tiniest bit of ignorance was the last straw. "Oh, quit acting! You've been acting so nice and cheery ever since we met you! Do you honestly expect any of us would fall for such a poor charade? Because if you did, you're dead wrong, princess!"  
Practically the whole cafeteria had heard Sam's little tirade. They were all looking their way now with eager expressions, as if they expected a major cat-fight to break out.  
'They can keep waiting,' Sam thought bitterly, not wanting any physical contact with the she-devil. Sam didn't want to stand within a twenty foot radius of her, in fact. But no, some restraining orders just weren't allowed to be issued.  
As if someone had slapped her upside the cheek, Violet jolted from her trance and rose from the table gracefully. In one fluid motion she was across the room and bending down, talking quietly with Paulina and her friends. Dash and his pack looked dumbfounded that Violet had even dared to approach their table without permission, but when she gave them a smile and a fleeting wave, they were putty in her hands.  
Turns out, she wasn't talking to Paulina, but to her off-and-on friend, Valerie Gray. She was their dispensable friend out of the group, and everyone knew this if they remembered the time Paulina's group had cast Valerie out of the clique because her family had lost their money from multiple accidents. The snobby group had allowed her entrance when her dad had earned the money back and gotten his job back.  
When Sam gave another discreet glance around, no one was staring. In only a matter of seconds, the whole room was back to its usual activities, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Which was true enough, in some ways, giving that Sam had held quite a few rallies and protests in the past and it wasn't unusual for her to be announcing some sort of belief for rights or animal respect.  
Sam and Tucker looked at each other at the exact same moment. And in that moment, they seemed to be on the same page, both knowing what the other was thinking. In unison, their heads swiveled to Violet and Valerie. None of the other girls at the popular table seemed to mind Violet's uninvited presence, in fact, they all looked like they were admiring Violet. Envy was sketched into every girl's eyes when they landed on Violet's perfect rose-petal lips, clear lavender irises, voluminous red-tinted chocolate hair, and her slim figure. Even her style struck the hearts of her fellow female students, causing much insecurity and a decrease in self-esteem.  
"Did I seriously know her?" Danny asked, staring at Violet like so many of the halfwitted boys in the same building. And neighborhood.  
"Yes, you did. But don't let that get to your head, she was only a friend. Actually, not even that," lied Tucker. He seemed to have gotten over his previous head-over-heels crush quite nicely.  
But Danny didn't care. Sam hated with a passion the way he looked at Violet.  
"Yo, Romeo. You're drooling," she said flatly. He sat up straight and wiped his mouth with his sleeve.  
"Woops," Danny apologized with chagrin.  
"Yeah."  
And luckily, Violet left, Valerie trailing behind her with a new skip in her step. Whispers and rumors broke out before they even reached the doorway of the cafeteria.  
"What does she want with Valerie?" Sam wondered aloud, scrunching her nose in bewilderment.  
"I have no idea, but I'm beginning to think she's up to something..." Tucker leaned on his elbows as he waited for the two girls to come back through the doors.  
"What're you guys so suspicious about? She's just a girl," Danny stated matter-of-factly, splaying his hands wide.  
"Thanks for that overlooked piece of info, Captain Obvious," Tucker said sarcastically.  
"Hey, don't pick on him, Sergeant Sarcasm," Sam counteracted. She gave Tucker a look that said "We'll talk about it later", and he appeared to have understood. Danny was as oblivious as he was thoughtless.  
Soon enough, the girls returned. But, ominously, only Valerie came back, looking more at ease and determined than she had when she had left with the captivating Violet. Everyone waited for Violet's return, but she never came around the corner. Valerie swaggered past her regular table and approached them readily, a different aura surrounding her. She put one hand on the table and the other on her hip, leaning casually with an easy smile.  
"Hey, Danny," she greeted, not casting a single glance in Sam and Tucker's way. "I just wanted to let you know you can sit with us anytime you want, 'kay?"  
"Um, okay. Thanks."  
"Whoa, wait-"  
"What? Afraid I'll steal your boyfriend?" Valerie interrupted Sam smugly, raising an eyebrow with false curiosity. She stood up straight, turning to face Sam fully.  
"He's not my boyfriend!" she said hastily, but a little too quickly for Valerie's liking.  
"Yeah, whatever. But he can decide for himself, loser." And she took the edge of Sam's tray with her index finger and flipped it onto Sam's lap.  
She sprang up, her mouth agape at Valerie's audacity.  
"What in the-! Valerie!" Sam exclaimed.  
"You have no idea who you're messing with. So I suggest you stop meddling and stick your nose back into your own business," she hissed eerily, low enough for only Sam to hear. And at that moment, Sam thought she saw a slight purplish hue to Valerie's eyes, as if the usual teal color of her eyes was mixed lightly with lilac paint. The sneer she flashed at Sam wasn't Valerie's. It was all too familiar and Sam felt the puzzle pieces collapse into place as she sewed the hints and clues together.  
"See ya, Danny. Bye, dorks." And with those last unforgiving, threatening, and by all means irritating words, Valerie stalked away. But not back to her table, like everyone expected, but back out into the hallway, where she disappeared from view.  
"Thinking what I'm thinking?" Tucker asked a steaming Sam, still scrubbing the milk from her mini-skirt.  
"That I'm going to go on a murder spree?" she replied with no amount of humor.  
"Uh, no. And please, let's keep the crimes on a minimum for one day. But I was thinking about following her, to see where she's heading. Maybe she'll lead us to Violet."  
She stared at him blankly. Then, jumped up and grabbed his wrist, not waiting for him him to catch his footing. They hurried out of the cafeteria and followed the sound of Valerie's uneven and stuttering steps. Once or twice they heard her trip or run into the lockers, like she couldn't control her own feet.  
Danny slouched over. "Um, see ya?" he called to no one in particular. Sighing, he got up and left.  
"Are you sure she went this way?" Sam asked eventually, breaking the abrupt silence. Valerie's clamoring footsteps had ended suddenly and so had their search. Now they stood in the middle of the hallway with no clue of what corner to take.  
"Wait." Tucker held his forefinger up to the ceiling, pausing mid-step.  
"What?" Sam whispered, holding her breath.  
"Listen." And she did. A metal clang came from their left, and they raced down the hall. It was the metallic school doors that had echoed throughout the corridors, and they hurried to them. They carefully opened the door, slipping out into the cold afternoon.  
"Where is she?" Sam muttered to Tucker, taking a panorama in anticipation.  
"Sshh. There," he whispered back. Sam spotted the familiar brown hair and yellow tank top. Valerie looked around for any lingering eyes and, fortunately, overlooked Sam and Tucker's. When she thought the coast was clear, she sidestepped into a crevice in the school building's wall and they had to creep reproachfully forward. They could be discovered easily if Valerie was to just peek around the corner. They came to the point where the wall meets the other wall, and they poked their heads one by one around the corner that divided them from trouble.  
Valerie stood stiffly with her back to them, but as they watched, she shuddered and dropped to her knees, using her arms as support before she could fall foward onto her chest. And when they looked closer they could just barely decipher an amaranthine smoke rise above Valerie's weakened body and take form in front her. Violet.  
As she became solid, her hands were planted firmly on her hips and she was in that natural pose that all girls do when they're annoyed or pleasantly pleased with themselves, with her hip jutted out on her left and her other side curved in. By the look of her mocking eyes and teasing smile, she was pleased.  
"You'll never get away with this..." Valerie croaked in a raspy voice, seeming to be drained emotionally and physically.  
Violet's eyebrows shot up as if Valerie had just told an interesting and surprising piece of news. She said in her more hypnotizing voice, "Really? My powers are getting stronger as we speak. I knew you suspected me from the moment I stepped foot in that wretched smelling cafeteria and I easily overshadowed you. You didn't even put up a decent fight. Honestly, I'm disappointed, I wanted to have some fun. But it was satisfying to know I can persuade and overpower you without a second thought. Usually it would take more than five minutes for me to talk someone into doing my will, but this, this was under one minute! I'm more powerful than you can hope to imagine, and I will succeed in my plans! Now, you are of no use to me anymore, that was simply for the fun of it. Oh, and to put some distractions on that nerd and goth's plates. Can't have them messing things up for me. I already got rid of that potential threat, Danny Fenton. All is going well, so now, please excuse me. I'd rather not be late for class." Violet skipped around Valerie, almost reaching Sam and Tucker's hiding spot.  
But before she could stumble upon them, Valerie interceded. "What do you mean, you took care of him?" The worry was plain in her voice, but she tried to sound nonchalant about the situation.  
Violet got a smirk out of this one, and turned around slowing, taking a step towards Valerie every time she hissed a word in her silver tongue. "You haven't heard? Well, of course not, you don't care for him or his friends, do you? Very well, I guess I should tell you.  
"He doesn't remember you, or Sam, or Tucker, or for that matter, his family! He doesn't remember anyone or anything because I took his memories. And don't ask, I don't like being interrupted. I'll answer your unvoiced question; yes, it is another power of mine. Like I said, I'm becoming more and more powerful by the minute! And it's only a matter of time before I find the portal. I will wreak havoc on this pathetic town before I leave, but first, I really must be getting to class. Toodle-loo!" And she went intangible, vanishing from human sight.  
Valerie forced herself to stand, but fell to the ground immediately. Her eyes began to close, and the last thing she saw was a blurry boy and girl coming to her rescue.  
** *****  
She skimmed the halls with a fiery impatience. She sometimes wondered why she didn't just go intangible all the time. It made traffic so much easier.  
She had sensed those two pestering teens eavesdropping on her and the ghost hunter before they had even followed her. She hadn't been kidding when she'd warned them to stick their noses back into their own business. They really did have no idea who they were dealing with. And they wouldn't live long enough to figure it out.  
And as she had these pleasant thoughts, Violet spotted who she had been looking for. Sitting uncertainly on the hallway floor was Danny Fenton. Violet zipped to a hidden-from-view spot and became human. Fluffing her hair and checking her lipgloss, she walked out into view.  
"Oh, hi, Danny! What're you doing out here? Class started, like, fifteen minutes ago."  
He glanced up with a shrug. "I don't know. I'm waiting for...uh, my friends."  
"Don't remember their names?"  
"...Yeah."  
"Sam and Tucker. Actually I just saw them, outside."  
"What? Why're they out there?"  
"I don't know, but if I were you, I'd stop hanging out with them. They aren't what you'd say trustworthy. You saw her blow up at me today."  
"Which ones which?"  
"Sam is the goth chick. Tucker is the tech-geek."  
Danny looked uncomfortable when she called them these names, but she rephrased quickly.

"Um, what I meant to say was, Sam is the girl and Tucker is the boy." Danny didn't answer.  
"Anyway, is that the real reason you're out here?" Violet tried, wanting fervently to make him forget about what she'd just said. She didn't want to be on bad terms with him. She still had tasks to be fulfilled.  
"Well...no. I guess not..." he admitted, looking away.  
"Then what is it?" She leaned forward, trying to catch his gaze.  
Whoa. Déjà vu. He felt like he'd experienced this before...  
Suddenly, he remembered. It played through his mind like a rerun; him and Sam, sitting side by side on a bench in an autumn evening. Sam was leaning forward and he was looking away with an expression of disappointment. Sam was wearing a black jacket, like the one she wore everyday. He was wearing a blue jacket, his hands jammed deep into the pockets.  
He couldn't remember what they had been talking about, but he knew it had been recent. He couldn't remember quite how long it had been since it happened and couldn't be sure if it had happened last week, last month, or even last year.  
He was so overjoyed by this memory that he didn't want to share it with anyone, afraid it would fade once he said it aloud.  
He shrugged again. "I had to think."  
"Hm. Fair enough. Look, I'm gonna skip today. Wanna come?"  
"Isn't that against the rules? No, seriously, I don't remember."  
"Yes, I guess. But who cares? You need some time to think, don't you?"  
"Yeah, but...I don't think..."  
Sam and Tucker came around the corner. His thoughts shifted back to what Violet had just said, about them being untrustworthy.  
Suddenly, he felt as if he could trust Violet. It was something about what she said and how she said it. He just couldn't explain. "Sure. Let's go."  
"Great! I know the perfect place to ditch!" She latched on to his arm and yanked him up, practically dragging him along behind her as Sam and Tucker, with a limp Valerie, rounded the corner to an empty hallway.


	5. Ditch and Catch

**Chapter 5 *Ditch and Catch***

There were people everywhere, old and young, short and tall. The crowd would thin out, then clog up again repeatedly, never ceasing to trip him once or twice. The smells mixed and combined, sometimes pleasant, and then, not so much. The sounds were overwhelming; cheers of excitement, moans of boredom, the chatter of exuberant people, and the ringing of cellphones. Even the patter of their footsteps sounded like the beating of drums.  
"I know it's kind of mainstream, but the mall is always fun, right? Unless you have any ideas," Violet said apologetically. Danny shook his head. He didn't know of any places at the time being.  
"Well, then this is the closest we're going to get to having fun. But believe me, I can make it work," she said with a twinkle in her eye. He smiled back. It was easy to feel comfortable around Violet.  
"Now, where should we go first..." she muttered to herself, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

"Actually, I noticed you didn't have any lunch. Hungry?"  
"I don't have money," he replied ashamedly, giving her a sorry grin.  
She swatted her hand dismissively. "No prob. I got cash."  
His eyes widened. "Are you sure? I'll pay you back, promise."  
"Nah, I got it covered."  
She led him to the food court and they sat down among the hundreds of other shoppers, but they picked the most seclusive spot. They weren't too keen on sitting in the center of the busy-bodied crowd, so the seats they chose were near the back of the court, barely noticeable.  
"This worked out well. What do you want to eat?" Violet asked politely, raising her eyebrows in perfect arcs.  
"Anything's fine. Do you do this often?"  
"Excuse me?"  
"Ditch, I mean. Do you skip school often?" Danny asked. Violet seemed so natural at it, like she did it everyday. And he had to admit, he wasn't as tranquil.  
"No, but why would I have to? This is way more fun than boring old school, right? Please don't tell me you're thinking about going back." Her eyes narrowed.  
"No! No, I just wondered," he mumbled, looking at his hands. He actually had been thinking about going back. He may have no memory of his past life, but he knew right from wrong. And again, he wanted to do what was right, but Violet's words seemed to disagree with him. He stayed put.  
"Okay then. I'll get the food." She left with a twirl.  
** *****  
"Thanks..." Valerie coughed, taking in a raspy breath when she settled down.  
Sam and Tucker sat on the sides of the bed in the nurse's office, not planning on staying any longer than they had to. The white room and stale smell was all too familiar for comfort.  
"No problem. We couldn't just let you lay there," Tucker said.  
Valerie relaxed further into the bed, but her eyebrows were furrowed. "How did you know I was there? And why were you outside?"  
"Huh-huh...well...you know...fresh air?" Sam said hesitantly, raising her shoulders.  
The answer seemed to be sufficient for Valerie, because she didn't question any further. Instead, she closed her eyes and fell asleep, letting her mind wrap around everything Violet had said.

She would most definitely have nightmares.  
Sam and Tucker stood up slowly, not wanting to wake Valerie, and slipped from the room as quietly as possible.  
"Where is he?" Sam murmured anxiously when she walked into her eighth period class.  
Tucker nearly ran into her back when she stopped in the doorway. "Watch it! I'm sure he's fine, don't worry about it."  
"I've heard that before."  
"Okay, bad example, but still. There's a million reasons why he's not here! He could have gotten sick, gotten in trouble-"  
"Or he's with that backstabbing, deceitful, doubting, double-timing, interfering, imbecilic, ignorant, little ghost! Or should I say demon?"  
"Nope, that simple description of yours was right on the nose. And I'm sure he has enough sense to avoid her."  
"Doubt it. You saw how he was wrapped around Violet's pinky finger. I _know _he's with her."  
"Chill out, Sam. Do you-"  
"Would you two care to sit down? Or would you like to stand during the duration of my class?" their teacher snapped. All students were already in their seats and had their notebooks out, and they were all staring at Sam and Tucker. The bell had rung without them hearing it, obviously.  
"Sorry," they mumbled as they took their seats.  
'This is going to be one _long_ day,' Sam thought, drawing the word "long" in her mind's voice. 'Long indeed.'  
When class finally ended, Sam dreaded ninth period. It would probably drag twice as long and twice as boring.  
"Hey! Wait up!" someone called. They turned to Valerie, who was running towards them and waving her arm in the air wildly. They also noticed her backpack, which she kept with her at all times. The same backpack that held all of her ghost hunting equipment and her jumpsuit, which she wore whenever she hunted. The backpack was a bleak reminder that Valerie was just as much an enemy as Violet.  
"What?" Tucker asked suspiciously, wary of her intentions.  
"What? I just wanted to hang with you guys a while," Valerie said defiantly. But not with enough conviction. Sam almost burst into laughter, but managed a short snort. Tucker looked at her disbelievingly.  
Sighing, she held her hands up in surrender. "Okay. I really wanted to ask you about what you saw," she gave them accusing glares. "And what you didn't see."  
"We don't know what you mean," Sam replied tersely. She reciprocated the glare, but with more hate.  
"You know what I mean. What do you think you saw outside, when you found me? How long were you standing there?"  
"Nothing, we saw nothing. We just heard some voices and came to find you on the ground," Tucker explained, taking the dilemma into his own incapable hands.  
Valerie seemed evidently relieved. She lost her tense demeanor and exhaled loudly.  
"Thank goodness," they both heard her mutter, but she regained her composure in an instant. "Well, that's all I needed. See ya." She spun on her heels and walked leisurely to her next class.  
"Nice save," Sam congratulated Tucker.  
"Thanks, but it doesn't take much to deter Valerie."  
"It does when it comes to grudges. She's still hunting Danny, and now she's after Violet. She's going to get hurt if she doesn't give it up now!" Sam worried aloud.  
"Oh. Good point," Tucker said defeatedly, realizing she was right.  
They stood motionless, each in their own little world as they imagined what would happen if Valerie attempted to fight back against Violet.  
Snapping out of it, Sam shook her head. "Ugh! Let's get to class! I'm sick of worrying about people getting hurt and Violet and-just-ugh!"  
"Okay, okay! Settle, Drama Queen! Geez, sometimes I think you could beat Paulina in complaining."  
Sam flicked him in the forehead. "Shut up."  
"Ow!" He rubbed his forehead and took off in front of her.  
"Oh, wait up! Who's the drama queen now?" she called after him, not even bothering to speed up. Tucker didn't say anything, but didn't slow down either. Sam laughed quietly and followed after him. Despite her good-natured jesting right now, her mind was heavy with the thoughts of Danny and Violet.  
** *****  
"Maybe we should be getting back, it's past ninth," Danny said nervously. They had been wandering around the mall for over half an hour and Danny had lost his awed reaction to the rambunctious surroundings.  
"Oh," Violet sighed. "I suppose you're right. Come on."  
They elbowed and nudged their way through the bustling crowd, neither bothering to say "excuse me", or "sorry". They'd been forcing their way through for little over an hour and knew no one really cared; they were too busy pushing through anyway.  
"Why's it so busy?" Danny asked, trying to keep Violet talking so he wouldn't lose her.  
"It's a mall. Answer enough?" she replied, somewhere to Danny's left. He followed her voice.  
"I suppose. Do you know what time it is?"  
"About 2:40. Why?" She sounded farther to his right. Confused, he switched directions.  
"Just wondering."  
"You say that a lot."  
"Hm. I guess I do, don't I? Well, I've had quite a few things to wonder about lately."  
"Touché." Her voice floated to him from straight in front. He stopped and let the people push and shove by. He took a moment to sort out his thoughts before he started walking again, but he stopped again when someone put a hand on his shoulder. He whirled around to find Violet.  
"Weren't you just..." He trailed off.  
"Weren't I just what? Follow me, the exit's this way." She began through the crowd to his right and he followed falteringly after her, making sure to keep her in sight at all times.  
Once they made it to the glass doors, Violet didn't even turn around and took Danny's hand. Taken by surprise, he jumped back, but she didn't let go.  
"What's wrong?" she asked, genuine concern reflecting in her glittering eyes.  
"N-Nothing," he stuttered.  
She nodded her head curtly, as if that settled some unknown matter. "Okay, then. Let's go, or you'll be in trouble."  
He didn't argue, but allowed himself to be led away without complaint. Violet seemed content with being in control.  
** *******  
** "Danny!" Sam shouted, running to catch up with him. She regarded Violet with a contemptuous glance.  
"Hey, Sam. Hey, Tucker," he greeted formally, as if they weren't life-long friends.  
"What-" She stopped short. Oh. Right. No memory.  
"I mean, hey! Where were you?" Although she already knew the answer. She just wanted to know if she could trust Danny, now that Violet had corrupted him already in his new life.  
But of course, it was too late. "Nowhere. I just didn't feel well and Violet volunteered to bring me home."  
"Then why didn't your parents bring you home?" She couldn't believe he had lied so freely to her, as if it was the truth.  
"You know how busy they are," he said without a second thought. Hm. He catches on quickly for someone who doesn't remember anything about anyone, let alone his own age.  
"I see. Then why aren't you home now, then?"  
"I felt better and we decided to take a walk. No harm in that."  
"I guess not. But there is in ditching."  
"Who said we ditched?" Violet spat at Sam, unable to tame the hatred in her flaring eyes.  
"No one said you didn't," Sam retorted. Everyone had stopped walking now.  
"Sam, maybe you should calm down..." Tucker put a hand on her shoulder. She shrugged it off irritably.  
"No! I know you're lying, Danny! And Violet's helping," Sam accused, glaring directly into Violet's amethyst eyes, which were now burning with contempt.  
"I'm only helping him make the right choices! He shouldn't be hanging with you two and you know it!" Violet yelled, no longer caring who heard.  
"No, I don't know it! Because he's our friend and you're using him. We heard you outside and we know you overshadowed Valerie!" Sam was now arm's length away from slapping Violet in the face. And though she would love to do that, she knew it wasn't the best choice right now. She maintained her violent actions, if not without reluctance.  
Danny's eyes flicked back and forth between Sam and Violet as they exchanged angry accusations with each other. When Sam confessed about her last statement, about seeing Violet overshadow Valerie, he cut Violet off from her next snippy comment.  
He held up a hand in from of them, so they could see he wanted them to stop. If he had just told them to stop, they most likely wouldn't have heard him over their vehement yelling. "Hold on. Overshadowed? What's that supposed to mean?"  
"It means nothing, Danny. See? Didn't I tell you she was crazy?" Violet assured in a soothing voice. She wound her fingers around his hand and stepped closer to him.  
Sam's anger rose to full-blown outrage. How dare Violet use her powers on Danny in front of them! "Oh, no you don't!"  
Sam stepped firmly between them and pushed them apart, unraveling their entwined hands and sending Violet into a stack of rotting trash bags and Danny aside onto the sidewalk.  
But his feet got tangled in themselves and he tripped out into the road. He fell on his chest and began to get up on his hands and knees, having just enough time to see the speeding car coming straight at him. He shut his eyes tight just before it hit.  
"No!" Sam shouted, reaching a hand out as if she could stop the car herself. Tucker couldn't manage a coherent response. Even Violet's face was vacant as she sat paralyzed in the trash.  
The car swerved off the road as it tried to avoid the fear-stricken boy, and only resulted in crashing into the lamppost that was just ten feet away from where the three petrified teens stood. Or, two teens and a ghost.  
When the car passed, Sam couldn't open her eyes. She didn't want to look. She was afraid to look. She had seen enough, she had seen that car hit... She felt just how she had when they had been in the elevator in the hospital.  
But miraculously, they heard a voice. Not Tucker's. Not Violet's. And it wasn't Sam's. At first she thought it was the idiot driver's voice, but this voice was too wonted, too recognizable.  
"Guys," his voice shaky and quiet. "How did I do that?"  
Sam's eyes snapped open immediately, but she wasn't eager to look toward the road. But when she did, her heart nearly jumped out of her chest. She heard Tucker suck in a sharp breath.  
Danny sat with his hands propped out behind him, supporting himself as he stared at them with an affrighted expression. His rapid breaths came out in white smoke as the cold air seemed to drop twenty degrees.  
The dazed driver worked furiously out of his seat, the rippled door refusing to unhinge. When it finally jerked open, he fell onto the ground and stumbled up, fumbling in his pockets for his cellphone. But as he looked up he saw Danny, sitting upright and unharmed, and froze on the keypad.  
"What...How..." he breathed, still gasping from the accident.  
"Uh...miracles! Who knew? Hallelujah!" Tucker exclaimed, throwing his hands up in praise. Sam sarcastically made a mental note to thank Tucker for all his amazing explanations.  
"But, I..." The stranger looked at Danny. "Are you alright?"  
Still mute, Danny nodded.  
"I-I...Good...So, no one's hurt?" Everyone shook their head. "Okay...I guess I better call someone in for this." He gestured to his crushed, mutilated automobile.  
As the driver called up a tow truck, Sam ran out into the road to Danny. She dropped to her knees and took him by the shoulders.  
"Are you alright?" she whispered. She didn't know why she was whispering, she just didn't have the energy to speak any louder. The suspense from before had wiped her out.  
Again, he nodded silently.  
"What happened?" she asked, not letting go of his shoulders for fear he would faint then and there.  
"I-I don't know..." he said in a wavering susurrus.  
"Let's go. You're not hurt, for sure?"  
"No. No. I'm fine."  
Sam hauled him up and they ran off the road, before any worse luck could befall them. Violet was already standing and brushing her clothes off. Tucker was still staring at Danny, then he looked at Sam. Sam nodded, knowing it was time to tell Danny.  
Without a word they all started trudging back to Fenton Works. No one said anything, no one wanted to. Even Violet knew she shouldn't say anything to Danny, for there was a chance she could lose his trust if she said one mistaken word.  
Once they reached the doorway of Fenton Works, Sam and Tucker pulled Danny away and down into the lab as Violet was forced to go with Jazz for tutoring. They could hear her grumbling as she sat down in the living room. She couldn't have hidden that she wanted to follow them if she had wanted to.  
As they tripped and stumbled down the steps, Sam rummaged through her mind for a reasonable excuse to tell Danny as to why he was still living and standing in the same room as her. She could find no excuse but the truth.  
"Sit down, Danny. Please," Sam insisted, urging him to sit in one of the seats by the cupboards along side the wall.  
"No, answer me. How...what happened!" he said, resisting Sam and Tucker's hands as they tried to get him to sit. They could see he was still shaky.  
"First, sit. Then we'll tell you," Tucker commanded, sounding authoritative and calm.  
Danny have him a non-too-friendly look, but sat.  
"Okay. Thank you. Now, what we're about to tell you is probably not going to make sense and you're most likely not going to believe us. But then again, you saw what happened out there. You saw what you did."  
"What I did? I don't know what happened out there, but I had nothing to do with it!" Danny protested loudly.  
"Sshh! Keep it down!" Sam hissed sharply, clamping a hand over his mouth, and again angering him further. He slapped it away and stood up. There was a different air to him when he spoke. Sam nor Tucker could identify what was different, but they didn't have time to think on it.

"Are you going to tell me or not? Because I will gladly walk away," he growled. Sam had been afraid this would happen. Violet was influencing him already.  
"We will! We are! If you would listen!" Tucker said defiantly, glaring pointedly at Danny. Danny glared back.  
"I'm going to keep this short and simple," Tucker said lowly. "You're a halfa."  
Danny opened his mouth to cut in, but Tucker silenced him.  
"Half ghost, half human. You became this way by accident but you've made a promise to protect Amity Park from evil. And right now, you're doing a terrible job."  
Danny let out a slow breath. Combing a hand through his hair, he muttered more to himself than them, "So that's how the car passed through me..."  
"More like you phased through it. But hey, whatever floats your boat," Sam shrugged. Danny ignored her.  
Tucker seemed aghast. "You're going to believe us that easily?"  
"Well, how else am I going to explain what happened out there? Right now, with no memory, and adding what happened with the car, I'll believe anything," Danny said. But then he remembered what Tucker had just said. "And what do you mean I protect Amity Park?"  
Tucker beat Sam to answering. He probably knew she would be snappy about and didn't want to infuriate Danny now that he was listening. "Exactly what I said. You made a vow to protect this place, and right now, you're failing."  
"How?"  
"Well, first of all, the danger has been right under your nose all day long!" Sam scolded, finally butting her opinion in.  
Tucker gave her a look that matched the one he'd given to Danny earlier. "She's right," he confirmed.  
"What do you mean?"  
Sam groaned. "You're just as ignorant as you were before you lost your memory."  
"Danny, Violet is the danger. She's a ghost," Tucker said. He waited for his reaction. When he didn't say anything, Tucker continued, "She stole you're memories. She overshadowed Valerie and made her do those things at lunch. You're only a pawn in Violet's game, and sadly, she's winning. We need to get your memories back, but I'm afraid it won't be as easy as last time."  
"Easy? What's your definition of easy, because it's WAY different than mine," Sam said disbelievingly.  
"You could have simply wished for his memories back in the beginning! Desiree would have had to obey! When you think about it, it's kind of obvious!" Tucker threw his arms out in impatience, almost whacking Danny in the face. Danny dodged and watched with mild interest at their bickering.  
"You could've helped!" Sam retaliated, taking a step forward after Tucker put his arms down. He took a step forward also to show he wasn't threatened.  
"You're right, I could have...If my mind hadn't been wiped! You could have wished ANYTHING, really. But you wished you hadn't met Danny and you could have just wished to un-wish that wish and then wish for Desiree to be nonexistent or something. Anything!"  
"I'm sorry I had other things on my mind at the time! Like, oh, I don't know, trying to stop Desiree!"  
"You could have WISHED-"  
"I'm sorry I wasn't thinking clearly! But I think I did a rather fine job! I tricked out Danny's suit when he goes ghost in the process of that whole predicament, so that's an upside-"  
"When I go ghost?" he broke in. As amused as he was watching them squabble back and forth, this particular fact intrigued him.  
Sam bitterly dropped their quarrel and said, "Oh, yeah. I keep forgetting you don't have your memories...How are we going to get those back?"  
Tucker cooled down and took the question seriously, looking thoughtful as he stared at his feet in concentration.  
He came to a conclusion. "First we're going to have to get Violet to take someone else's memories, so we can see how she does it. Then, we have to trick her into giving the memories back. I know it doesn't sound very full-proof, but-"  
"Darn right it doesn't," Sam scoffed as she crossed her arms. She wasn't in the mood for beating around the bush. She wanted to get to the point and fast.  
"Ahem," he coughed. "But it's all we got. Disagree?" Tucker glanced back and forth between Sam and Danny. Neither apposed. At least, not out loud.  
"Good. Then it's settled. Sam will be the bait."  
"Wait, what? When did we agree on that-"  
Tucker either chose to ignore or didn't hear Sam's protests. "Okay, now I say we put the plan into action tomorrow! Objections?"  
"Yes! Wh-"  
"Great! Let's go!"  
"But-"  
"I better be getting home." He began to walk toward the stairs, but stopped at the rails. Turning around halfway, he said quietly, "And Sam, when are you moving?"  
Sam paled. She'd forgotten they were moving tomorrow. It had seem like such a long time ago that her mother had announced that they were moving, out of Amity Park and away from her friends.  
"Moving?" Danny asked, looking at Sam. Silence. "Oh, come on! Just because I forgot a little-"  
"A lot."  
"...of my past, doesn't mean I can't be let in on secrets! Seriously, you can trust me; I've kept Violet's pretty well."  
They both looked at him simultaneously. Without warning, they were by his side and there was no way for him to get out.  
"Uh, woops? You know, forget what I just said. I-I"ll just be going..." He tried to slip between Sam and Tucker, but they both grabbed him by the arms and sat him down.  
"What "secrets"?" Sam asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. Her arms were folded again and she didn't look like she would let this subject drop so easily.  
"Nothing. Just unimportant stuff, really. Now, I'm pretty sure your mom is waiting or something and-"  
"Danny, you have to tell us. Please. The world depends on it," Tucker said solemnly.  
Sam glanced at him. Since when was Tucker serious?  
Danny sighed. He waited a few seconds before he began. "While we were ditching, she was saying something about "finding the portal in time" and "getting home". When I asked her about it, she would say it was nothing and didn't say anything more on it. I don't know if that means anything to you, but it doesn't seem relevant to me."  
"The ghost portal," Sam muttered, diving deep into thought.  
"And "home" must be the Ghost Zone! She's trying to get back to the Ghost Zone!" Tucker theorized.  
Sam felt a nagging doubt at this solution. "Are you sure? It just seems like there would be more to it, the way she's acting, like getting people out of the way...people that would interfere. And you heard her say she was going to "wreak havoc on this pathetic town"! I think there's something else to her scheme."  
"Oh, Sam. Don't make this more complicated than it already _isn't_. If she's just trying to get home, then why don't we just let her? She can't do any harm once she's back in the portal. I mean, after all, isn't that where we send all of the ghosts once we capture them?" Tucker said, evidently not caring about whether Violet was misleading them or not.  
"Even so, I say we get Danny's memory back and _then_ we let her go. If this is a scam, we need to be prepared," Sam compromised, letting no further debate interrupt her conclusion. Tucker couldn't have agreed more.  
"Danny! Tucker! Sam! Are you down there?" they heard Jazz call. Perfect timing.  
"Yeah," they all replied in unison.  
"I have some exciting news! Get up here!"  
They exchanged irresolute glances, then headed up.  
"What is it?" Sam asked derisively as she crossed the last step.  
Jazz waited till Danny and Tucker were fully upstairs to answer. "I just wanted to notify you all that Violet will be accompanying us on our trip. Isn't that exciting?"  
Being quick to hide their true feelings, they all nodded and faked smiles. Sam was especially glad that Danny was pretending and not actually happy that Violet was coming. Maybe he was actually starting to believe them.  
"So, be sure to make room when we set off tomorrow. I want her to be comfortable and to enjoy this. Or, at least as much as she can when my parents are around."  
Sam made an effort to listen to Jazz go on a spiel about living with ghost hunting parents and how stressing it was to have to worry about Danny, also. But something caught her eye and she looked to see Violet leaning self-satisfyingly against the woodwork. An evil smirk lined her pretty lips and her eyes held a dangerous fire, one that Danny seemed to be engulfed in as Violet used her supernatural powers to get him to side with her. Sam glanced at Danny to see him holding his head as if he had a headache, but Sam knew the true cause. Violet was being meddlesome.  
"-Understand?"  
Sam snapped out of her silent hatred-filled thoughts. "Huh?"  
Jazz growled and rolled her eyes. Sam noticed she'd been much more touchy since Danny had come home from the hospital.  
"I said, "No getting Danny into trouble, like you usually do. Understand?" Sam nodded, knowing the reason for Jazz's overbearing instinct to protect Danny. This instinct was intensified due to his vulnerable state and made Jazz all the more protective.  
"Thank you. I better resume tutoring Violet before we leave for our torturous trip tomorrow," Jazz said. She sounded very grown-up and strict. Something was wrong.  
"You guys noticed the change, right?" Tucker asked after Jazz and Violet had receded into the other room.  
"Definitely. She's not usually this stern and...she sounded like a robot the way she talked. That wasn't Jazz. That was Violet. She wasn't lying when she said she was becoming more powerful," Sam said. Suddenly, she was uncomfortably conscious of Violet's goal.  
"What now?" Danny asked, shrugging his shoulders casually, like none of the current events were even happening.  
But as if to answer his question, Danny's parents walked in looking anything but their normal selves. Sam was beginning to miss the buoyant, insane, and hyper Mr. And Mrs. Fenton.  
"Danny, we'd like to speak with you. Privately," she added when Sam and Tucker made a move to follow. They both stepped back. Danny gave them an uncertain glance but followed dutifully after.  
Sam and Tucker waited where they were for what seemed like half an hour, and it even go to the point where Sam's muscles stiffened and she had to stretch. Tucker wandered off who-knows-where and she didn't see him until ten minutes after he'd gone wherever he had. She was about to ask, but she wasn't really that interested and let it go without any particular attention.  
Finally Danny walked out with a solemn expression and evaded their eyes bashfully. He gave them a weak smile and hurried past them, not giving an explanation. Taking two steps at a time, he was up the stairs and in his room before they could even form a coherent question.  
Maddie and Jack came into the doorway and watched him go. They looked entranced, as if they were sleepwalking. Their heads slowly turned to Sam, and then Tucker.  
"Uh, if I may ask, what's wrong?" Tucker asked nervously when the stares of Maddie and Jack's penetrating eyes became a little creepy. Okay, _really _creepy.  
"We're just gonna...go..." Sam began inching subtly towards the door and Tucker followed lead. Neither Jack nor Maddie moved.  
Violet walked in calling, "Yup! Uh-huh. Thanks, Jazz! See you tomorrow." Then she saw them with their hands on the doorknob, looked at Maddie and Jack and their blank stares, and then smiled.  
"Oh, yeah, I'd forgotten about them," she said casually with a wave of her hand. She snapped her fingers and they came to. They blinked once, twice, three times before the surprised looks and confusion settled in.  
"Violet, you-" Sam started to say, but was cut short by a "tsk-tsk-tsk" from Violet.  
"Not in front of them, now," she said darkly, raising her eyebrow and cocking her head.  
"Sam? Tucker? Violet? W-What happened?" Maddie's hand fluttered to her head and she collapsed backwards into Jack's arms, leaving him no time to aid to the pounding in his own head.  
"Oh, dear! What's wrong, Mrs. Fenton?" Violet asked, an artificial ring to her voice. Violet was many things, and unfortunately, one of those was an actor. An _amazing _actor. She could lie her way through tests, interviews, and in that case, life. Sam never knew what to trust and not to trust when it came to Violet; everything she said had the potentiality to be a mistruth.  
"I don't know. Oh, I think I'll retire early tonight. Help me, Jack." Maddie weakly gestured towards the general direction of the bedroom, and Jack gladly helped her. He wanted to lie down also.  
"What did you do?" Sam demanded as soon as she heard the click of a door on metal. Her fists were clenched tight and she glared with pure hatred at Violet.  
Violet smiled. "You should know well enough by now. I only PERSUADED them. Mere mortals are so easy to manipulate." She flipped her hair behind her shoulder and sauntered past them. But just before she left, she winked at Sam, and then shut the door in her face.  
"The nerve of some people!" Tucker grumbled under his breath.  
Sam sighed. All the stress was starting to wear her down. Violet, camping trip, moving, Danny, memories, everything. She just wanted to collapse like Mrs. Fenton and sleep, forget all of her worries and hand her troubles away without regret. To anesthetize her mind and let the numbness drown her until she felt no more. She longed for that, to just be able to sleep without having the Nightmare sneak into her sleep and morph her dreams into unspeakable fear. Such fear that she wakes up screaming and shaking sometimes. After having the same Nightmare for years and years, she still wasn't used to it. She'd never told Danny or Tucker, or anyone. She knew they had more pressing matters than her silly subconscious creating illusions.  
Sam blinked hard, shoving the thoughts deep down to be forgotten. Luckily, Tucker broke her from her inner panic.  
"Do we go check on Danny?" Tucker asked. He could see Sam was tired and wasn't sure what she wanted to do.  
"I suppose...We need to get his memories back...and soon. I don't think I can take much longer of this," Sam mumbled wearily. If only Tucker knew she wasn't just tired.  
"You know what," he said after Sam didn't say anything more. "You go home, relax. I know you've been trying to help him and trust me, you have. But you need to rest. Just forget about everything for tonight, okay? I'll go check on him, and if possible, I'll figure out the whole plan tonight. Deal?"  
Sam wanted to hug him for being so considerate. She couldn't believe he'd actually yet forgiven her for shoving him into the trashcan earlier. Or pushing Danny out into the road.  
"Thank you," she breathed in a relieved sigh. And rethinking on it, she did hug him.  
"Uh, you're welcome," he said uncertainly with a wary look.  
Sam rolled her eyes. "Oh, settle down. It's not weird to give my friend a hug. But seriously, thank you. I really need this."  
"No problem. I know you'd do the same for me. 'Night, Sam."  
"'Night." And she left.  
Bounding down the concrete steps she glanced back at the closed door. Did she really want to go home? Her mother will be furious. She had a lot to think about. And Sam did kind of want to be in on forming the plan for tomorrow.  
"Sam."  
Sam whirled around. Violet stood a little ways off with her hands in her crimson jacket. Sam could see her breath float out in front of her face and dissipate into nothingness, but Violet's breath didn't show. If Sam hadn't known any better, she'd think Violet had stopped breathing all together.  
"What do you want?" Sam said haughtily, taking a step back. Violet took a step forward.  
"Don't worry, Samantha. I don't want much." Her friendly, kind expression hardened into a mask of threats and lies. "Just your undying loyalty."  
Violet raised a hand, and before Sam could even think of an inappropriate insult, her words caught on her tongue and she couldn't speak.  
"You want to listen to me, you just deny it," Violet murmured, her hand still raised. "But don't listen to your better judgment. Do what you want." Her voice felt like a river flowing over stones on the bank. Smooth and tempting. Sam's mind clouded and she nodded her head.  
"Go home. Do as Tucker said and forget about tonight."  
Sam didn't nod that time.  
"N-No. Stop," she stammered as the fogginess cleared from her mind.  
"Hm. Resistance. Fine. But you will do my command when you hear the word "Samantha". Got it?"  
Although she resisted, Sam nodded mutely. She was aware of what she was doing, but couldn't stop.  
Violet smirked and lowered her hand. Sam blinked and Violet was gone within that millisecond. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to regain her composure.  
With the Nightmare nipping at the edges of her mind, Sam started for home with another problem weighing on her shoulders.


	6. Deja Vu

**Chapter 6 *Déjà Vu*****  
**

Sam lazily stirred the yellow mush of her disintegrated corn flakes and tried to ignore the usual chatter around the table. It only made her lose her focus.  
'I'll just tell them. No stalling, no gimmicks, no nothing. Just tell them.' Sam glanced up at her parents' bright faces and light attitudes. It was hard to believe that they had been the stern, deranged people Sam had encountered only days ago when she had come home "late".  
Sam chose not to think about how they had acted previously, because it broke her courage down, and forced herself to say the dreaded words. "Mom, dad, I'm going on the camping trip with the Fentons."  
A hush dampened Mr. and Mrs. Manson's delightful conversation. Sam braved a glance at her mother's face, and she could see the oncoming storm raging within her eyes. Sam shifted her gaze quickly to her father's, and was relieved to see he didn't look nearly as angry. Sometimes Sam didn't know why her mother was so begrudging and maddening.  
"Excuse me?" Pamela Manson said a little too tightly. She tried to sound like she didn't know what trip Sam was talking about, but it was plain to see she knew very well where the talk was heading.  
"The camping trip today. You know what I'm talking about," Sam said lowly. She avoided saying "the trip you forbade me to go on", but she almost nearly screwed up.  
Pamela pretended to experience recognition. "Ah! That trip." How many trips was she going on? "We've talked about this. You're not going." Pamela looked down at the table and carelessly picked at her food with her fork.  
"It wasn't a question. It was a statement," Sam said firmly, refusing to let her mother hold her back.  
Pamela's head shot up, a look of disbelief on her face. Her eyes were hurricanes. "Pardon? I said no, and I'll say it again. You're not going."  
"Pamela, let's just rethink this. We haven't even made moving plans yet. Or, are we done with that?" Jeremy Manson asked, and Sam could feel the futile hope when he said this.  
"I just haven't gotten around to it! But mark my words, we will be moving by the end of the weekend! And you, Samantha, need to be here when we do."  
"...Okay. I'll be upstairs," Sam said.  
Pamela looked taken aback. "Wh-What? I-I..."  
Sam stood up and calmly left the kitchen, went up the steps, opened her bedroom door, pulled out her black duffel bag, and began packing random necessities. When she'd finished, she snatched up her jacket and stalked over to the window. Quietly and with immense care, she looped one leg over the sill. Then she wrapped the other leg around and sat still, the sudden reality hitting her like a speeding car.  
But she refused to give up. Finding the right footing she prepared to make her descent down two stories.

"Can you hand that here, Violet? I can't reach," Maddie asked, pushing her back against the overflowing luggage.  
"Of course, Mrs. Fenton," she replied with childish innocence. Sam used sheer willpower to keep from gagging.  
"Thanks." Maddie jammed the last box in with the other twenty.  
"Geez, do you really need all this?" Danny asked, sitting on the cement steps with his arms under his chin.  
"Well, yeah, duh. This may be a wilderness experience, but one can never be too prepared for ghosts!" Maddie chirruped giddily. Her old self was slowly returning, but not fast enough for Sam's liking.  
"I still can't believe my parents are GHOST HUNTERS," Danny muttered to himself, still struggling with disbelief and unease.  
"I'll gather the other stuff. Violet, can you help me?" Jazz asked, already heading in. As she stepped past Danny she gave him a sympathetic look, then moved on.  
Sam didn't miss a thing. She was sitting beside Danny the moment Jazz's foot passed the threshold.  
"What was that?"  
"What was what?"  
"That look she gave you. I'm not blind."  
He turned his head away so he wouldn't have to look her in the eye.  
"Nothing."  
"Ugh!" She smacked him upside the head, but not too hard. Although she would have liked to.  
"Ow! I'll tell you, I'll tell you!" When he was sure she wasn't going to smack him again, he said, "I'm not allowed to go on the trip. I'm grounded." He sounded like he actually cared, although how would he know the importance of the trip?  
"What? But-"  
Tucker cut her sentence short as he came huffing and puffing up the sidewalk, utterly out of breath, and tripped in front of them.  
Sprawled on the ground at their feet, he said breathlessly, "Danny...he...he can't...c-can't..."  
"He can't go on the camping trip. I know."  
Tucker closed his eyes. "Wha...what?"  
"He just told me. And when were you planning on telling me?" she accused angrily.  
"W-Well...now."  
"Idiot," Sam muttered. She turned her attention back to Danny and said, "Why're you grounded? You didn't do anything!" Even as she said this she knew Violet had done it. It was always Violet now. Somehow, she managed to make it all about herself nowadays.  
"My parents somehow got a call from the principal about me skipping. And Violet didn't get caught."  
Sam pouted. "Oh, of course it wasn't Violet. She's perfect," Sam said in an imitating voice of a sophisticated adult.  
Finally catching his breath, Tucker snorted. "I think I figured out a plan to get your memories back. But you need to be with us on the trip. And believe me, I've thought about it all night...I got nothing."  
"Tucker, you truly are a man of many words," Danny said sarcastically. Tucker laughed again.  
"Let me take care of this," Sam said after they could come up with nothing more to say. She stood up and walked to Maddie, out of earshot distance.  
"What do you think they're saying?" Tucker asked.  
Danny shrugged. "I have no idea. But it's going to take a lot to persuade my parents into letting me come-"  
"Go and pack, Danny! We're leaving shortly!" Maddie called from across the driveway.  
Danny stood up abruptly. "What? Are you serious?"  
Tucker jumped up also. "Awesome!  
Sam walked over with arrogance, but it was only pretend. She absolutely hated it when people were snobby and uptight. That's probably why she and her parents didn't get along too well.  
"What did you say to them?" Danny asked, astounded.  
"You know, made them feel guilty because my parents gave you the money for the vehicle, made them feel bad you weren't going to enjoy quality time with family and friends. The whole "amnesia" thing came in handy." She made quote fingers when she said amnesia.  
"Well, don't just stand there gawking! Get packed!" Sam snapped when she finished.  
"Oh! Yeah! Right, right...Yeah." And he dashed inside. Jazz dodged out of the way as he came barreling past, and then she gave them questioning looks.  
"What's he so happy about?" she asked, disappointed to miss out on the news. She hated not knowing things.  
"He's coming camping! Or, as close as you can get to camping with fully loaded artillery ghost hunting weapons packed in the back of the vehicle. But whatever!" Tucker said with such enthusiasm that it sounded like he was talking about buying a puppy and not going on a dangerous trip with an even more dangerous enemy. No biggie.  
"He's going? Great! I really felt bad when they said he was grounded. Although I'm not any happier with his skipping out on school." Jazz crossed her arms as she came down the steps. Violet trailed out behind her and didn't look the teensiest bit perturbed by the news of Danny's accompaniment. Sam found this suspicious, due to Violet's attempts at trying to get him left behind.  
"Danny is coming? Oh, that's fantastic!" Sam wasn't sure whether Violet was being sarcastic or unfeigned.  
Jazz clambered into the Assault Vehicle, then Violet, then Tucker, and then Sam. Danny came out soon after with his stuff and climbed in beside Sam.  
"Okay, kiddos, ready?" Jack said cheerily, one of his familiarly bright smiles reflecting back at them in the rear-view mirror. Sam definitely noticed a change in them, and that caused a spike of hope to surge through her weary body.  
Jack started down the road, and while everyone was in good spirits, no one spoke. But as the regular Maddie and Jack Fenton returned, so did their jovial personalities. And, fortunately, their bubbly moods and laughter was contagious and everyone was smiling and laughing. Sam didn't think she'd ever seen Jazz look so at ease while being around her parents.  
The only person unaffected by the drifting jokes and uncontainable hysteria was Violet, with her face straight and her placid eyes she was anything but entertained.  
And Sam undoubtedly knew that that would have been herself if not for the fact she was so distressed that she was starting to lose track of what was sad and happy. If somebody had asked her to identify her feelings and to sort them according to sad, happy, mad, and all those in-between emotions, she wouldn't have been able to tell them what she was feeling presently. It wasn't the numbness that she wanted, but an all-together different feeling. A mixture of anything and everything, of nothing and nihility. Sam didn't want to be cheery and upbeat, because first: that's not how she rolls. Second: there was nothing to be satisfied with.  
But she was beyond controlling her emotions at the time being. So she settled into her seat and got comfortable, resting her head on the back of the seat and closing her eyes. She hadn't realized how tired she was, and fell asleep to the beeping of Tucker's PDA on the right side of her, and Danny's laughter on the left side.  
_*******_  
Danny awoke to a bright flash. Blinking away the white spots he cracked open one eye to see what had awoken him up, expecting lightning or something of the sorts, but instead saw Tucker with his camera pointed at him.  
Squinting, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "What the...?"  
"Oh, it's nothing. Just making memories," Tucker said. Danny could hear the laughter in his voice. "This one's going to the scrapbook."  
"Memories? Of what? I didn't think my waking up from a three hour nap was that interesting."  
"It is when that happens." Tucker pointed to Danny's right. He looked to see what he meant and found Sam with her head on his shoulder, still sleeping peacefully. She must have shifted in her sleep.  
"Let me see the picture," Danny said. He got ready to yank it from Tucker's grasp when the moment came.  
Tucker smirked and showed him, but held it far enough away so that he couldn't reach it and erase it. It showed Danny with his head resting against the window pane, sleeping, and Sam as she was now, also sleeping.  
"Tuck, delete it!" Danny said immediately. He made an attempt to snatch the camera, but Tucker just pulled it back farther. Sam jerked awake when Danny had made an effort to grab the camera, and she yawned, oblivious to what was going on.  
Tucker was laughing, but he stopped abruptly and his face melted into a solemn expression. His eyebrows knit together, making them look as one. "Wait. Did you just say, "Tuck"?"  
"Yeah. Why?" Danny asked, temporarily forgetting about the picture.  
Sam, fully awake now, also stitched her eyebrows and looked at Danny with wide eyes. "Tuck? You said Tuck?"  
"Yes, but why's it a big deal?" Danny asked, raising his shoulders and glancing back and forth between Sam and Tucker.  
"That's my nickname...How did you know?"  
"Well, Sam had to at least have said it once or twice, right?"  
"I guess...What's your cover-up name when you go ghost?" Sam asked randomly. He expected an explanation, but she didn't give any.  
"Danny Phantom. But what's this trying to prove?" He really couldn't find a true point in all this. Sam's mouth spread into a grin and Tucker laughed.  
Looking back at Violet, he stopped laughing, but didn't stop smiling. "You remember!" he whispered. He didn't seem to want Violet to hear.  
Danny replayed his thoughts and realized...he did remember. But not much. "I do. I do remember! But...that's all I remember."  
"Really? Are you sure?" Tucker asked, a little crestfallen, but not much. Danny nodded.  
"Why didn't you tell us your name at the hospital if you knew?" Sam felt anger rise into her voice, but didn't care.  
Danny shrugged. "I don't know. I guess then I wasn't really aware of it. It was just a fuzzy memory. But now...now it's clearer."  
Tucker frowned and Danny could see the gears whirring in his mind, rotating at an extreme speed. "Well," he began. "I don't know what to say to this. If she TOOK your memories, then why do you remember something? I just don't understand!"  
Danny looked away from Tucker's contorted frustration and took notice of the surroundings instead. Although there really wasn't much to take in; the rain pounded against the window with such power it sounded like it was hailing baseballs, but it was too foggy to see where they were. The fog hugged them with a milky foam that made everything look distorted and misshapen, like the mirrors in those funhouses at the fair.  
The vehicle took a right and, as far as Danny could see, they were driving through a woods now, the dying green and withering yellows and reds and browns of the trees streaking past in a multicolored haze. As they rode past all the dying organisms, Danny filed through his mind, making sure he hadn't missed any details or other roaming memories. He couldn't remember anything extra.  
"Okay! The rain seems to be letting up, so Jazz, Maddie, and I will set everything up. Danny, Sam, Tucker, and Violet can just wait for us to finish. Well, here we are," Jack announced, taking a sharp left and bringing them into a clearing.  
Sam practically pushed Danny out when he opened the door. He tripped and fell out off the seat, but caught himself on the handle of the door.  
Sorry!" Sam apologized as she jumped out. She took a deep breath. "I hate being cramped in tight spaces for long periods of time. Especially with other PEOPLE." She shuddered.  
Danny smirked as he stood up and was nearly trampled by Tucker as he clambered out of the vehicle.  
"Brr! I don't know why I just realized this, but why are we camping so late into fall? Someone's bound to get sick," Jazz said loud enough for her parents to hear, who were still in their seats. Jazz pouted and yanked her thin coat tighter around herself, probably wishing she was back home with her stack of musty books and a mug of hot chocolate. Danny didn't need his memory to see she liked to spend her time with reading material more than living beings. And sometimes, when he got stuck in his parents' presence, he didn't blame her. Humans were so overrated.  
"Now what? There isn't exactly great reception here," Tucker said, holding his gadgets up and searching for wifi.  
If not for her speaking at the moment, no one would have realized Violet was standing right behind Sam.  
"Why don't-"  
"Ah!" Sam flinched back and jumped into Tucker, throwing over half of his handheld devices into the forming mud puddles. Danny was pretty sure he saw smoke rising from one of them.  
"Oh? Did I scare you? Sorry," Violet said, no amount of sincerity left in her voice. She smiled wickedly, showing her snow white teeth. She didn't attempt to make her intentions subtle anymore either.  
"No," Sam spat defiantly, trying to play her freak-out off like it hadn't happened. "I just can't stand being near the likes of you."  
Violet scowled but didn't retort. She swiveled on her high-heeled boots and tramped away, wandering into the woods and into the setting dark. It was around 8:00 p.m.  
"Good riddance," Sam called after her, but not loud enough for the others to hear.  
"Kids! On second thought, we might need your help," Jack shouted from somewhere on the other side of the RV. A snap and a startled yell came from the same direction and they all knew it was Jack.  
"Let's not worry about Violet. Hopefully, she'll be mulled by a bear," Tucker said wistfully.  
Sam smiled, but it flickered. She sighed. "Sadly, bears are hibernating by now. But hey, maybe we'll get lucky and a pack of hungry vultures will peck her to death?"  
"Naw, vultures flew south. Oh! Oh! I know!..."  
As Sam and Tucker discussed multiple ways for Violet to die in the wilderness, Danny thought back to what Tucker had said about him remembering. Were his memories really coming back? And if not, what then? He was positive Violet wasn't going to hand him his memories with a ribbon and a smile.  
"Danny?"  
"What?" He hadn't realized he'd just been standing there staring at the ground.  
"Let's go," Tucker said as he raised an eyebrow. Danny knew he wanted to know what he was thinking, but Danny pretended he hadn't seen it.  
"Of course! Yeah, coming." He jogged past them, and when they gave each other a funny glance, Danny called out to them. They finally came and they set to work on setting up the campsite.  
Danny's hands were numb within ten minutes of taking them out of his pockets to help put up the tent. And if that wasn't enough, Jack and Maddie got the easy way out. They had simply thrown the piece of deflated rubber on the ground and it had inflated itself.  
"You used that the last time we went camping!" Jazz complained, struggling to jam the poles for the tent into the frozen dirt. By the looks of it, she wasn't embracing the cold like her parents. It didn't bother them like it did the rest, for some annoying reason.  
"Oh, Jazzerina, don't be such a whiner. This is teaching you a valuable lesson!" Jack said with such conviction, he might have just believed it himself.  
Jazz threw down the poles. "What lesson is that? How to stuff a stick in the ground? Thanks, but I've already learned that lesson."  
"Jazz, honey, how about you just relax a while? The rest of us can set up the tent-"  
"Don't mind if I do!" Jazz stomped away, sat at the edge of the campsite, and dropped down onto one of the two logs that encompassed the fire ring.  
"What's her problem?" Danny whispered to Sam as he watched Jazz throw her hands up and exclaim, "Why don't we make a fire yet?"  
"I don't know, but I wouldn't get in her way if I were you."  
"Why?"  
"Just don't."  
Danny dropped it and resumed finishing the tent, but his mind was on anything but the tent.


	7. A Dream

**Chapter 7 *A Dream***

Her teeth chattered and her lips felt chapped. She couldn't feel her hands, feet, or face. It didn't feel like she was even wearing a jacket, but rather a two-piece swimsuit and no shoes in the dead of winter.  
She didn't think it was supposed to be this cold, and even so, it wasn't smart to camp out in it. Thankfully, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton had come prepared. In both tents there were little mini-heaters (designed by -well- you know) called Fenton Warmers. She could only imagine the other gizmos they had brought along with them.  
Sam glanced across the fire at Danny. He looked a little on the miserable side. His arms were wrapped around himself tightly and his head was bent low, as if by doing this he could lock in the warmth. His eyes were closed and he looked like he was sleeping, but he must have sensed her staring and opened eyes to look up. And in spite of his discomfort, he gave her an encouraging smile, probably to settle her nerves and put her mind off the bitter cold. And it did, partially. But that lingering despair tickled in the back of her mind until it became a full on nuisance. She gave a disguise-smile back and looked away.  
"This trip is NOT turning out how I hoped it would have. It'll be better tomorrow." Maddie stood up and went to their luxurious tent, Jack followed, and then Jazz.  
Sam made a move to stand, but remembered Violet still hadn't come back from the woods.  
'Good,' she thought. 'Now I don't have to worry about her stabbing me in my sleep.'  
Tucker had already left and was in the tent when she finished her happy thought. Sam hovered near the end of the log, waiting to see if Danny was coming or not. He didn't move. He just sat and stared into the flickering flames like he could see his future in future in them. Sam went back to the tent with a last glance over her shoulder.  
Snuggling into her somewhat warm sleeping bag, Sam didn't hear any movement, so she thought Tucker had already fallen asleep. But when she got up to check she realized he was on one of his few gadgets that hadn't shorted out in the water. Rolling her eyes she fell back into her pillow with small smile.  
But that smile immediately disappeared when she heard the shuffling of blankets and someone laying down in the corner of the tent. She knew it wasn't Danny, but Violet. She'd chosen to sleep as far away from them the moment they'd pulled out the bags and pillows. And Sam couldn't have felt more uncomfortable.  
_*******__**  
**_ When she next woke up, she was in a panic. Her heart raced to the point where it didn't even feel like it was beating anymore. It was pitch dark and she couldn't see a thing, but she realized it was because she had her eyes glued shut. Slowly she opened her eyes one by one to see Danny had finally gone to bed, and so had Tucker. His device lay flat on his face like he had dropped it and fell asleep before he could remove it. Another look around showed Violet wasn't sleeping, or even in the tent. Sam was a little relieved and a little nervous, but right now she was trying to shove the Nightmare out of her dreams, the dreams that she never had due to the Nightmare.  
When she'd managed to get control of the darkness and lock it in the vault of the forgotten, she let her mind wrap around the fact that Violet was missing. She could be anywhere, waiting for the right moment to launch her attack on them. At least, that's what Sam believed.  
Sam nudged Danny, because he was the closest, with her foot. "Danny! Hey, wake up!" she whispered urgently, on the verge of kicking him instead of politely waking him up.  
"Mmmph...go away," he mumbled irritatedly, swatting his hand at her as he rolled over, his back now to her.  
Sam muttered some unflattering words and crawled over to Tucker, shaking him. "Tuck? Tuck, get up! Violet is-"  
"Sshh! I'm sleeping..." Tucker stuffed the pillow over his head. He was out cold.  
Sam groaned inwardly and leaned back on her heels. Then, she stood up and tried one last time to get at least one of the two boys to come with her.  
"Danny? Seriously, listen! Wake up!"  
No response.  
"Tucker! Pssst, Tuck, get up, I'm trying to tell you something!"  
Again, no response.  
With a withering look Sam unzipped the tent flap and stumbled out into the ever-cold night air. Without all the animals or bugs, all Sam could hear was the screaming silence of nothingness, of a lifeless wood. How coincidental.  
It was a good thing she'd chosen to wear her jacket to bed, even if it still felt like she wasn't wearing anything more than a swimsuit.  
Sam re-zipped the flap and looked out into the darkness, wondering if she would be able to see well enough in the full moon. Besides, she didn't have a flashlight. But when she looked across the camp sight she could tell she would be able to see just fine seeing through the trees. Finding the direction from which she came would be the difficult part.  
She decided to not to go too far, but just far enough to know Violet wasn't snooping around the perimeter of the campground. Although why Violet would be doing that, she didn't know.  
Sneaking into the woods without a sound, Sam went through all the worst case scenarios that could happen to her at any moment.  
Then she heard a voice. Two voices. Tiptoeing lightly over to the sound and taking care not to accidentally step on any leaves or twigs, Sam leveled her breathing so it wouldn't be as noticeable. But she was certain they could hear her heart pounding repeatedly against her chest. Sam edged near a bush and crouched down out of sight from whoever was on the other side and wedged herself between the branching sticks.  
Sam slowly peeked over the thorny hedge, but before she could comprehend what was happening someone or something clamped a hand over her mouth and another hand over her eyes. Another person wrapped their arms around her arms and waist to keep her from fighting back, so now all she could do was kick, but that did nothing to slow them down. A sharp zap came and pain flared in her head. She blacked out.  
_*******_  
Shivering, Danny sat up groggily, yawning and complaining in his mind.  
'Ugh, I don't want to get up...sleep...'  
"Okay, Sam, what is it? This better be good," he mumbled opening his eyes to the dark. No Sam.  
"Sam? Are you out there?" Danny patted around for his jacket and shrugged it on, unzipped the tent, and tripped out.  
"Sam!" he whispered hoarsely, squinting out into the moonlit woods. Grumbling, Danny trudged over to his parents and Jazz's tent and quietly opened it, peering around the flap. No Sam.  
Silently he re-closed the tent and turned around, frustration building up inside him. Where was she? Did she decide to take a leisurely stroll at 3:00 a.m. in the morning? He knew she wasn't the morning type, but being creepy and stalking around in the dead of night was beyond weird.  
"Sam! Sam?" he called a little louder. All he wanted to do was go back into the tent and lie back down, forget what was presently happening and just close his eyes. But he knew she was out here, and whether she was in trouble or just restless, he didn't know.  
So he set out for the woods, and not before long, he heard voices drifting through the trees. One sounded familiar and the other was a complete blank. The familiar voice was talking with someone else, and whoever it was spoke with authority.  
Danny crept closer, following the floating voices to a clearing. He ducked down abruptly when he realized who it was. Violet. And another woman. And Sam.  
The woman's hair was a fiery orange and accentuated her forest green eyes, which didn't look too inviting. She wore a red business skirt, crimson jacket, and ruby red high heels. She also had a pair of black sunglasses on even though it wasn't much lighter than ash in a burnt out fireplace. Weird part was, she had a strangely uncanny resemblance to Violet...  
And the worst part about her was her voice. It dripped with false hope and artificial happiness, the venom seeping into his skin like poison from a snake bite. Each syllable, each word, was like a jagged stab to his soul, digging deeper and deeper, twisting the knife this way and that to make the wound fatal, unfixable. He felt suddenly depressed, drained, empty. What was the point in getting his memories back? Or helping Sam? What was the point of his existence even then? They would all crumble into dust and be swept away by either wind, water, or fire. Buried deep beneath the earth's crust and forgotten like the rest who were passed and long gone. He could just lie here and sleep, wait for it all to pass, and move on. Who cares?  
Danny shook his head violently. What was he thinking? Why was he thinking such dark thoughts? Of course this all matters!  
"Don't worry, she won't remember a thing. Shows her not to snoop." Violet's words were just as painful, but in a more hypnotizing way, like a blissful death that was long awaited and finally received.  
"Yes. But that's not the matter at hand. Tell me, have you done what it was you needed to?" The woman?'a voice sliced through Danny once more, but he tried with all his might to ignore the hollow ache beginning in his chest where his heart was.  
"Almost. I just have to find the-"  
"Sshh!"  
"...What?" Violet hissed, obviously not a commoner to being interrupted. But when she said this, she kept enough genuine curiosity in her voice to make it sound polite enough. It seemed this lady was of some importance.  
The emerald eyes of the older woman scanned the bushes surrounding the open space until she looked directly at Danny's hiding spot. But there was no possible way she could have seen him!  
"Come out, Daniel. There's no need to hide." She spoke the last word sharply, practically outright telling him that this wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation.  
Violet looked to where the woman glared, but puzzlement was evident in her delicate features.  
Danny knew it was no use to pretend, so he stood up cautiously and took three steps forward. No more than that.  
"Danny?" Violet said, confusion so hilariously written on her face that Danny almost laughed out loud, but he kept a straight face.  
"What did you do?" Of course, he was referring to Sam, who was unconscious and lying at the base of a tree behind them. But either Violet didn't understand or she didn't care, because she answered an entirely different answer. More like a threat.  
"We're filling out our plans as scheduled, so best not to interfere." She raised her hand as if to stop an oncoming car, but it glowed a dangerous purple-red.  
"Violet, he's no longer a threat! Stop fooling around and let's go!" the other female ordered, crossing her arms in annoyance.  
Violet's head whirled around to glare at her, her auburn curls concealing her face from view.  
"Excuse me? At least let me have some fun. I've don't nothing for too long." Violet turned back to Danny with her hand still raised, it grew brighter and brighter with each passing millisecond.  
"Violet Penelope Prickston! I said let's go, and I mean now! No more dilly dallying!" Violet tensed at the sound of her middle name.  
She spun back to the woman, her arm still pointed at him and glowing.  
"No! Stop telling me what to do, you're not the only one with power. I'll show you what I can do," Violet said lowly, her voice losing its velvet quality when she spoke to the lady. It seemed that whenever she addressed her or she spoke to Violet, Violet was no more than a mere mortal to the woman, her powers undiminished compared to Violet's.  
As they argued with flying colors, or more like different shades of gray and black, Danny tried to move unnoticed towards Sam. But he reached not even three inches when a scream broke from Violet and a blinding flash erupted, cascading everything in a plum light.  
He opened his eyes to find he was sprawled across the ground, ten feet from where he'd recently just been standing. But he realized quickly that that wasn't the only difference in him. He knew the lady. She was Penelope Spectre, the old guidance counselor. A pretty bad one at that. She'd tortured the students and fed off of their misery and depression, almost ending it for his sister Jazz.  
And he remembered how to go ghost. And who his family was. And where he was. He remembered himself. He remembered!  
But as the memories poured back to him, he felt his eyelids sinking closed, utterly impossible to keep them open for much longer. And he didn't try to stay awake. He remembered, and that's all he could think about.  
_*******__**  
**_ When he woke up inside the tent all he could hear was the sound of clanking pots and pans. And for a moment, he thought, 'Maybe we never really went camping. Maybe it was just a bad dream.'  
But when he got on his hands and knees and crawled over to the exit, he opened his eyes and saw that it hadn't been a dream. Stupid reality.  
And he thought about what he'd just experienced; the amnesia, Violet being a ghost, discovering he was half-ghost as well...had that been a dream? But then how had he gotten here? In a tent on a camping trip? Illusions and unrealistic events were jumbled with reality and truth in his head right now. It was very frustrating and dizzying. So, instead of trying to sort it all out, he classified the previous events with Violet and the amnesia into the "I-dreamed-it-all-and-it's-unimportant" file.  
Danny forced himself awake and reluctantly came out of the tent, only to be greeted by an overly-preppy mother.  
"Oh, sweetie, you're awake! We're just getting breakfast ready, so you can go over there with Sam, Tucker, and Violet if you like." Maddie stood over by the fire they'd remade in the morning and set a pot over the flames, but filled with what, he didn't know.  
'Couldn't they just use one of their ghost inventions to make some gourmet meal?' he thought to himself. But he shrugged it off as he sat next to Sam and Tucker, Violet opposite them.  
They weren't talking, but rather glaring each other down. When he sat no one paid any attention to him. They probably wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't said something right then.  
"Hey, guys." Sam and Tucker jumped and Violet looked away to clear her throat.  
Danny gave all three funny looks, but when he looked at Violet, he grimaced. So Violet wasn't a make-believe girl from his imagination. But how did she come to know them?  
And after sitting a few minutes in solid silence, Danny figured this: the part where he'd met Violet at school and walked to her to his house for tutoring and all was true, but that night when he'd gotten the note from Violet to meet her somewhere and he had gone on that walk just before meeting her, well, it had probably been so cold that he'd gotten sick and hallucinated the part where Violet was a ghost and all. And then he'd passed out and Violet had called for an ambulance and he'd been in the hospital for awhile. And all those in-between occurrences were just fleeting dreams or more hallucinations. Then, as side-effects from getting hypothermia or something of the sorts, he had forgotten how he'd gotten here, at the campsite. And that's how he'd ended up here...or something like that.  
He knew it probably wasn't the most creative or realistic version of what had happened, but he decided not to stress over it. He'd just go on living like none of that had happened...or been dreamt...or hallucinated, whatever it was!  
"Danny? Yoo-hoo, daydreamer." Tucker waved his hand back-and-forth in front of his face.  
Danny snapped out of his puzzled thoughts. "Oh, uh, sorry. What'd you say?"  
"I said...you know what, forget it." Tucker looked away and dropped the conversation like a bag of rocks. It was quick and abrupt, crushing any chance of casualness.  
Before Danny could sink back into his delusional fantasizing of different realities, Sam slightly elbowed him.  
He looked at her. "Hm?"  
Her eyebrows furrowed together in concern, as if she had a reason to worry about him. "What's wrong? You seem...distant."  
He gave her a look. "I'm fine. What's with you guys, all grumpy and down? Pessimistic clowns seem more inviting." Danny knew the part about clowns would get to Sam. Ever since their first encounter with Freakshow and his staff, Sam hated circuses.  
She uncrossed her arms and raised her eyebrows in a disbelieving way, ignoring his jibe about clowns.  
"What's with us? Well, first off, that!" she hissed, subtly nodding toward Violet, who was holding her arms to her chest and looking off into the woods with a vacant expression in those shimmering eyes of hers.  
"Her? What could she have possibly done?"  
Sam was downright annoyed by now, tilting her head to the side and giving him a blank stare. "I'm not kidding. Stop acting like an idiot for once and be serious."  
"Settle down. Sorry, Sam, didn't mean to get on your bad side. Though half the time I can't tell which is which."  
"It's easy; when I'm in a happy mood, your chance of getting your head ripped off is ten percent lower. Get me angry and all my sentences will be a run-on of one complete threat. I know your memory loss has affected your somewhat of an intelligence, but did that help?"  
"Yup, duly noted." He froze. "Wait, did you just say memory loss?"  
Sam gave him another withering glance but said, "Yes. I don't like saying it, so please don't make me say it again. And don't worry, we'll get it back." She looked at him with such certainty that he thought he saw something else inquired in that look, but she looked away just like the other two had.  
Tired with the evasiveness of them all, Danny took her chin gently with his hand and turned her head to look at him. She looked shocked, which is something to say, but also exhausted. He felt a pang of sympathy and guilt, but feeling guilty he was uncertain as to why.  
"Sam, what are you talking about? Get what back? And what do you mean I lost my memory?" Suddenly, it hit him. It hadn't been a dream. Or a hallucination. It actually happened. All of that had happened. Then he remembered the previous night when Violet had shot him. Had that reversed whatever she'd done to him before? If so, why doesn't Sam remember what had happened last night? As he thought this, he realized how stupid he was.  
"Sam, are you alright?" he asked worriedly, looking her up and down for any visible injuries. She leaned away with apprehension.  
"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?" She squinted at him with suspicion.  
"Because of last night! Don't remember? What did they do to you? Are you hurt?"  
"I said I'm fine! Nothing happened last night! And who's "they"?" Sam looked about ready to spring off her seat at the table.  
Danny understood immediately what had happened. Violet had taken Sam's memory of last night away so she couldn't do anything about it. And it seemed Violet didn't realize she'd given Danny's memories back.  
"Oh...Never mind, it's nothing. I just...didn't get a lot of sleep last night, that's all." He shrugged and acted like he hadn't said anything unusual. Sam nodded quietly, but regarded him with a nervous watch.  
Danny almost kicked himself for forgetting to simply tell Sam he had his memories. With a silent groan he whispered so Violet couldn't hear. "Sam, I've got my memories back. Last night."  
Her eyes widened and she nearly shouted with joy, if not for the fact Danny clamped his hand over her mouth before she could make more than a squeak.  
"How? When? Where?" she whispered, careful to keep her eyes on him and not let them drift to Violet.  
"I'll explain everything later, just not now, okay? My main worry right is what we're going to do now that I'm back to normal. Didn't you guys say we'll just let her back to the Ghost Zone? Because I don't think that's a-"  
It was Sam's turn to put her hand over Danny's mouth. She glanced over to where Violet had been sitting only seconds ago, but she was gone. That was a little bit unnerving. They hadn't even heard her get up and leave.  
Tucker hadn't heard anything by the looks of it. He sat in deep thought and was so zoned out that he didn't acknowledge neither Danny nor Sam when they said his name. He started only when Sam slapped him upside the head, and none too softly at that.  
"Ow! The heck?" He rubbed his head grumpily, pouting his lower lip like a child.  
"Did you see where Violet went?" Sam asked impatiently, ignoring his cry of complaint. He gave her another contemptuous glare but answered without an insult.  
"No. I was too busy on forming a new plan. This is going to be harder than I thought." Tucker looked truly tortured by the fact that he couldn't do anything to help with his technology. Danny had to give him credit, he was trying his hardest to create a way to help Danny.  
"It's all right-" Danny started, but Sam kicked his shin.  
Danny was about to kick her back when he saw Violet leaning against a tree nearby, observing her nails like she had nothing better to do than worry about a chipped nail or scraped polish.  
"Oh." Danny bit his lip when he realized he'd almost revealed what they knew and very nearly lost the upper hand that they temporarily had.  
"Well? What?" Tucker pressed, never one for letting things go easily.  
"N-Nothing. I just meant that it's alright that you're trying! Yeah, thanks. I appreciate it," Danny stuttered, brushing the mistake off not-very-smoothly. But it seemed to work for Tucker (and Violet).  
"No problem. We're in this together." Tucker smiled encouragingly. Danny sighed with relief and he could feel Sam's tenseness ease next to him.  
"Kids, the food is ready!" they heard Maddie call cheerily from the fire. Danny didn't even turn around.  
"I'm not that hungry," Sam said, practically reading Danny's mind. Tucker was zoned out again. Violet was gone. But only to appease his mother and family, Danny joined them despite his lack of appetite. Sam stayed by Tucker, not talking, but just closed her eyes.  
Danny dragged his feet over to where Maddie, Jack, and Jazz sat on the five feet long logs eating bacon, toast, and eggs and sat down alongside Jazz.  
"About time you got up, sleepyhead," she joked, ruffling his disheveled hair.  
Hey, hey! Don't touch the hair, Jazzerina!" he teased back, knowing she hated that nickname and a dozen others that their father called her. These embarrassing nicknames consisted of; Jazzerina, Jazzerincess, Jazzy-poo, and many, many others.  
Jazz's smile fluttered, but she managed to control it. "Don't call me that, dweeb." She stuck her tongue out.  
"Of course, I'm sorry, Jazzerincess. Didn't mean to offend your highness."  
This time she did frown, but that also turned into a grin.  
"Okay," she called to Sam and Tucker. "Who told him? You guys know I hate it when you call me that!"  
Sam looked up with a puzzled and irritated expression. "Told him what? You still sleep with Bearstein?" Bearstein was Jazz's childhood toy, but it was also her present turn-to toy.  
Jazz gasped. "Sshh! He doesn't need to know that!"  
Danny rolled his eyes and smirked. "Oh, chill out. I already knew. Plus all your other secrets...if you could call them that. What about that time you dated Dash for, like, two days? Yeah, I can understand why you'd want to keep that a secret. Someone as smart as you should know better than to date HIM."  
Jazz looked between Sam and Tucker and Danny. Finally she said, "So you didn't tell him?" Obviously the question was for Sam.  
"Nope. And you dated Dash? What was it like? I bet it felt like being with a monkey with no brains...and probably smelled like it, too," Sam replied.  
Jazz stayed focused on the subject at hand, but Danny could see she was annoyed with Sam's observations. Most likely because they were true. "So...the only logical explanation would be...YOU REMEMBER!" Jazz leapt up and flung herself at Danny, locking him in a crushing bear hug. All the wind was pushed out of his lungs, leaving him gasping and choking.  
"Oh, this is so exciting! We have to celebrate!" Jazz squealed.  
She unclasped her restraining hold and held Danny at arm's length to look at him fully.  
"Everything? Do you remember everything?" she asked, nervousness still able to be located in her turquoise irises.  
"Yes, Jazz, it's okay! We don't have to celebrate, really-"  
"Mom! Dad! We need to go home now! I have great news!" Jazz shouted, even though Maddie and Jack Fenton were sitting only ten feet away.  
Danny took this opportunity to get up quietly and make his way back to Sam and Tucker, who were snickering like two dolts.  
"What's so funny?" he snapped, plopping down across from them.  
"Well, your sister just admitted to dating the biggest and dumbest bully in Amity Park, and went totally spaz-tastic on you. I would have to be humorless to not find that funny," Tucker said as he laughed the seriousness of the situation away.  
"Tuck, you do realize you'd have to have humor in the first place to lose it... Have you ever tried to sit through one of your jokes?" Sam laughed again. Tucker just pushed her off the side of the picnic table.  
"When were you planning on telling me?" Tucker asked right after Sam made an indignant noise.  
"About what?" Danny said, genuinely confused for a second.  
Tucker raised an eyebrow.  
"Ah, that. Yeah, sorry... But hey! You know now, right?"  
"Thank you. Very helpful," Tucker said flatly in a sarcastic tone.  
"No problem." Danny gave him a half-smile and Tucker rolled his eyes.  
"Everybody, pack up! We're heading home!" Jazz shouted, already loading the tent into the RV.  
"What? But-" Sam started, clearly not wanting to let Violet go back so early.  
"No buts! Let's go!" Jazz came back out and put out the fire, gathered the supplies, rolled up and put away the sleeping bags, and did every other possible task that needed to be done before they could leave.  
"We better go. Jazz'll have this place cleaned out before we can even figure out what our plan is." Danny stood up and went to help Jazz, which she refused because he was to just "relax and not worry about anything." When he came back over he was more than annoyed.  
"How am I supposed to relax when all of this is going on?" he asked, but even though it was a rhetorical question, Tucker was the first to answer.  
"You don't," Tucker said matter-of-factly. Danny glared at him. 


	8. The Past, Present, Future

**Chapter 8 *Past, Present,****Future***

"Home, sweet home!" Jazz dashed inside. Danny came in after her and then Tucker, then Sam, and lastly Violet. Violet hadn't said a word since last night, Danny realized. He didn't know if that were a good or bad thing. For now, he was enjoying it.  
"Danny, what do we do?" Sam asked, stepping in his way to stop him from walking past her. Tucker stood next to her with a determined expression. Sam's fists were placed firmly on her petite hips.  
Danny looked between his two misfit friends and realized they were depending on him to figure this out, of course with their help. And he knew he couldn't let them down either.  
"Well," he began. "Let's just let her go. Then... I guess that's when her true intentions will be revealed. There's nothing else we can really do." He shrugged.  
Sam was about to protest, but nodded solemnly instead. Tucker bobbed his head in agreement.  
"Good. So when do we tell her?"  
"Now seems just as right a time as any," a voice from behind chirruped.  
Danny whirled around to come face-to-face with Violet.  
"Show me the way," she said.  
And so they did. Danny went to the basement door without a word and opened it, mockingly gesturing to Violet that she should go first. She did a mock nod in appreciation back and high-heeled her way down the steps. Tucker went after, as well as Sam. Danny hesitated, but only to be sure that neither his parents nor sister were around. When he was sure they weren't going to be interrupted he quickly went down the stairs, closing the door lightly after him.  
When he hit the last step he found Violet standing with her hands on her hips and appraising the Ghost Portal doors with an expression of interest and a hint of impressed hostility.  
Danny walked past her and pressed the glowing red button that opened the doors, then turned back to Violet when she spoke for the first time in six hours.  
"So, this is where it's been hidden all along. It was so obvious that I never even considered to look here. I mean, I've been everywhere else around this house," Violet said.  
"Everywhere else?" Danny echoed, raising his eyebrows.  
"Yup. This house sure is an unusual environment. But that's off topic. I see you have your memories back. That little blast I gave you last night was completely unfocused because of my interfering mother." Violet sniffed with disapproval, flipping her hair over her shoulder.  
It took a few moments to sink in, but Danny finally blurted, "Wait, mother? Did you just say mother?" Danny was hoping he'd only misheard, but he saw a tiny smile pull at one corner of Violet's rose-petal lips.  
Completely unfazed by the accusation, or truth, she said in a breezy tone, "Yes I said mother. Oh dear, are you hard of hearing now?" Violet's hand flew to her cheek as she pretended to look concerned. Actually, she didn't even try. The smile was plain to see on her not-so-plain face.  
"But that means..."  
Violet sighed dramatically."It means Penelope Spectre is my mother! Gosh, I knew you were clueless but I thought you had more sense than this!"  
Sam spoke up from the corner she'd been observing in. "But you said your mother's name was Penny Prickston!"  
Violet answered smoothly, absolutely calm with the accusations. "Yes, it is. Penny is short from Penelope and Prickston is her last name in the future."  
"Future?" Tucker said quietly. He lifted his red beet to scratch his head. He was sooo confused.  
Violet was patient with them and answered patiently. "I'm from the future. You know what, before you interrupt once again, Danny, I'll just tell you. I've come from the future to avenge my mother's sanity after you, Danny Phantom, destroyed her life. But I came back in a too-later year. I was planning on going farther back, which I'll be doing in a moment. But since I was here I attempted to rid myself of you here in this time period, but that didn't work out too well. I alerted my present mother of my existence so I could have her help in succeeding, but she hasn't been able to do much. She's too busy worrying over her future self's appearance.  
And I know I said I would leave this town in ruins but I just haven't the time. So instead, I'll just be going." With a little wave of her long fingers, Violet jumped through the portal in one fluid motion.  
"...Uh... I should go, shouldn't I?" Danny broke the silence with such a stupid question, Sam laughed.  
Taking that as a yes he stepped up to the swirling green mass of an entirely different dimension that only his family and Vlad Masters were the lucky few to experience it.  
"I'm going ghost!" he said with renewed confidence. He'd missed saying that in the few weeks he'd had to go without it.  
Luminescent white rings appeared around him and split into two separate rings, encircling his body. One went upward and the other went down, transforming his t-shirt and jeans into a black and white jumpsuit with his signature D on the chest. His shoes were now white boots and he wore white gloves as well. His electric blue eyes seemed to change to a shocking green in one blink, and his jet-black hair shifted to a snow white that was just as radiating as the glowing rings around him. He was now Danny Phantom.  
"Be careful!" he heard Sam yell after he dove into the Ghost Zone. Careful? In these past months he's had his ghost powers he soon accepted that the word "careful" had no more meaning.  
The green abyss could make even the greatest navigator lose their mind, but Danny knew his way around like the back of his hand. He flew straight through without the slightest complication. But the only problem was...he couldn't see Violet anywhere in sight. The only sign that she'd been around was the path of destruction leading north. A couple of the doors were smoking from being hit with ghost-rays, others were cracked and splintering from forceful blows. And quite a handful were snapped completely in half. Violet sure knew how to keep it subtle.  
He followed the wreckage to a towering castle. Danny recognized it at once. Clockwork's castle.  
He flew in through the doorway and made his way to the main room, which had the time medallions and portal. Clockwork was floating a foot off the ground as he blocked the entrance into the time portal. Violet was preparing to make him move.  
"Move out of my way old man!" she snapped. Immediately Clockwork was suddenly a small infant, but he had the same hard stare and deep, booming voice.  
"Who's old now?" he said with a smirk.  
Violet growled with frustration. "Whatever. Move! Or I'll make you."  
"Do your worst," he retorted, not moving an inch, not even flinching when she raised a hand with purple energy forming. When her power was to its fullest she flung it at Clockwork.  
Someone came from behind Danny and practically tackled him to the ground, yanking a time medallion around his neck. When he hit the ground with a thud and looked up, it was Sam. She'd fallen on top of him and her hands had accidentally found his shoulders so she could keep from laying completely on him.  
She shrugged weakly. "Oops?" She smiled sheepishly and scrambled up. Danny hurried up as well.  
"Sorry. We kinda followed you and... yeah," Tucker said as he came up from behind Sam.  
"I tripped," Sam said quickly when he gave her a questioning glance.  
Clockwork interrupted their conversation with a loud, clear voice.  
"Time: freeze," Clockwork said flatly. Violet's motions slowed and eventually she stopped, trapped in a position with her arm raised as she prepared to blast Clockwork into next week. Literally.  
Danny, Sam, and Tucker were still moving at normal speed thanks to the medallions.  
"Ah, Danny Phantom. I should have known you were involved." Clockwork was middle-aged now.  
"You probably already know what I was about to say, so..." Danny said.  
"Yes. I do. And I know what Violet was trying to accomplish. She somehow got past me before and ended up in that uncle of yours' portal. I was about to send her back to her own time, but it seems this chain of events is a little more complicated than I thought. Any idea on where this conversation is headed?" Clockwork was never one for showing displays of emotion, and now wasn't going to be the time for it either. His expression was blank.  
"Uh...no," Danny replied truthfully. He honestly had no idea as to why Clockwork didn't just send her back right then and now.  
"Well, first, I'll be sending this one back to her own time." Clockwork set the time portal to its correct time period. The scene showed an aerial view of Amity Park. The view was magnified it seemed and showed a close up of Danny's house. Someone opened the door and out stepped a younger Jazz, her vivid orange hair pulled up into an adorable sky-blue bow. She looked around seven.  
Next came Maddie Fenton and little Jazz was bouncing up and down excitedly, tugging on Maddie's hand with childish impatience.  
"Wait, what-" Danny said, but was cut off by Clockwork.  
"You foolish boy. You really thought it'd be this easy to stop us?" Instead of Clockwork's usually smooth, deep voice, it was a satisfied woman's voice. Clockwork was surrounded in a black fog that swirled upward and completely devoured him/her. When the fog dissipated, Penelope Spectre was standing in the place of Clockwork, but she still wore the purple hood like a mocking reminder of her trick. In her hand was Clockwork's staff that controlled time itself.  
"This was easier than I thought. I overestimated you, Ghost Boy. Your girlfriend was smart to distrust my daughter."  
"-I'm not his girlfriend!"  
"-She's not my girlfriend!"  
Penelope snickered, enjoying herself quite so. Violet unfroze from her fake position. She put her arm down and stepped toward her mother, taking her rightful place next to the imposter.  
"Beautiful performance, sweetie. I hadn't known any better I'd actually have thought you were trying to defeat me."  
"I learn from the best," Violet said smugly.  
Penelope smiled her wicked smile. Danny sprung at her, finally breaking from his confused stupor at all the lies and illusions that had made him to believe one thing, only for him to realize it was an entirely different thing.  
He managed only to rip the staff from Spectre's grasp, but she somehow dodged his punch and leapt through the portal. Dropping the staff Danny readied himself and shot an ecto-blast at Violet. She was launched across the room and crashed into the opposite wall. She looked up desperately, but unfortunately, she'd crashed into the wall that conveniently beheld the hanging time medallions. She didn't do what Danny expected. He thought she'd snatch one of the medallions, but instead she went ghost. Her ghost half was just as frightening as her bewitching human half. Like mother like daughter.  
"You've lost. Don't you realize it? Haven't you pieced together the puzzle pieces? My mother's power is the power to cause suffering and emotional pain. I believe I got the better half. I have the power of persuasion and beauty. I don't control you, I only make you do what you want to, but intensified by 10. You want to let me go. Don't you see?"  
Danny shook his head as if to clear his thoughts of her cloudy words. "No, I don't. You're lying."  
"True. I can persuade you to do what you don't want to. But still, to be clear, I'm not controlling you. Technically. You're not as daft as I gave you credit for.  
"Enough talk, though. I better go meet my mother. You know how parents can be."  
Violet flew at Danny and latched on to his arm, dragging him with her as she flew straight for the wall. He struggled against her grasp, and that's when he realized she already had a medallion. How else would she have been able to stay in this current time era? She had to be wearing right now and Danny just had to find it. He shot her with twice the strength.  
She let to of him in a moment of pain and he grabbed her arm instead, making both intangible as they went straight through the wall. Violet's ghost half flickered, but she didn't shift. She turned the tables and wrenched his hand away and flew back through the wall.  
Danny followed in her wake. On the other side she was on her knees and hands. Violet was now in human form, but when she heard him land on the ground she jumped up and ran for the portal. Danny flew at her and noticed she was wearing a belt, and sowed onto it was a single time medallion. How had he not noticed before? At the last second Danny lunged forward and grabbed the medallion and yanked. The medallion ripped off, but Violet could do nothing as she plunged into the portal, unable to hold onto anything. The last thing they heard her say was lost in the time separation from which divided them and her.  
She was gone.  
"Danny. You did it! You sent her back!" Sam rushed forward with Tucker.  
"But where's Clockwork? He never would have let this happen," Tucker said, taking a look around the room.  
Danny heard a muffled voice just before Clockwork barged in, hands bound behind his back and his mouth gagged with ecto-rope.  
Danny came forward and undid the ropes around his arms. When his arms were free Clockwork jerked the rope from his mouth.  
"Pleh! Where is she? I'll send that she-devil back to the Ice Age!" Clockwork looked outraged, which was strange for him to show any emotion. After all, who knows how long he'd been alive. Danny often wondered how old all his ghost enemies were, like Skulker or Ember, or the Ghost King, or even the Box Ghost.  
"It's okay, Violet is gone and back to her own time," Sam said.  
"No, I mean Penelope! I've known her long enough to know she would do something like this!" Clockwork said angrily, almost like he was blaming himself for her escapement.  
"You know her?" Tucker asked with disbelief.  
"How long do you think I've been around, human?"  
"Good point."  
"She got away," Danny said to get back on topic.  
Clockwork was back to his neutral-self now. His face have nothing away. "To which time?"  
"...The past," Danny muttered. He'd forgotten about Penelope until Clockwork had brought her up. "How did she trick you?"  
Clockwork obviously didn't want to say, but didn't let it show. "She somehow dulled my power and that gave her enough time to sneak up on me and lock me up. But do not change the subject. You're in grave danger-"  
"When am I not?" Danny interrupted.  
"-and Penelope can change your past so greatly, many loved ones could be harmed or...ahem."  
"Why can't I just go in after her?" Danny asked.  
"You're too clumsy and we both know how immensely you've changed the future and present with your previous attempts at helping. Time traveling isn't the best job for you."  
"Then why can't you?"  
Clockwork sighed heavily. "I cannot change, only influence. We've been over this. But I have a solution."  
Danny perked up. "You do?"  
"I know I've given this option before, but I can protect you. But you would have to stay here, within the Ghost Realm and in the Time Palace. You could become my apprentice and work here. No matter what Penelope does in the past she would never be able to alter your life if you were to stay out of time itself. But this is the only resolve I can propose. Your decision?"  
Danny didn't know what to think. If he stayed he would be protecting his family, Sam, and Tucker, as well as himself. He would still exist and Penelope would be working in vain.  
But that meant Danny would have to give up the life he had and leave the ones he cared for. Who would protect Amity Park? What would he tell Jazz and his parents? Nothing, of course. He would just vanish. He couldn't stand to think what that would do to Jazz. He'd seen the way she reacted to him losing his memory. If he completely left, well, he didn't want to know how much that would hurt her. There was so many things that were and needed to be done. He couldn't. He wouldn't.  
"Danny?" he heard Sam whisper from behind. Tucker said nothing, but Danny knew he didn't want him to do this.  
"I'm sorry, but I can't," Danny said. He stood straight and waited for Clockwork's disapproving tone.  
But he never got it. Clockwork simply nodded his head once in respect and said, "Very well. You have sealed your fate." Clockwork gathered his staff off the floor and two it firmly against the ground.  
Danny blinked and everything was gone. He blinked again and he was back in the ghost laboratory. The medallion's weight was gone. He saw Tucker looking as baffled as Danny felt. Sam sighed with relief and closed her eyes.  
"So, there's a chance we could all fade into nonexistence any moment now. Fun," Tucker muttered. Then he gave Danny a grateful look. "Thanks for not taking him up on that offer."  
Danny smiled, feeling better than he looked. "I'm exhausted. I don't want to worry about poofing into nothing right now."  
"I second that," Sam mumbled, raising her hand weakly.  
They all stumbled up the steps and were about to go up to Danny's room when an explosion and smoke came from the direction of the kitchen.  
"No! Catch it! Catch it!" Maddie Fenton shouted. Some banging came from the same direction and the Protestant shout of Jazz drifted to them.  
"Why don't I live in a normal family! Am I adopted?"  
Danny ignored the abnormality of it all and went to his room as if he hadn't heard the shouts and yells of his dear family. Sam and Tucker followed, knowing this wouldn't be the last time something weird happened. It was a daily thing for them all.

** •THE END•...**_or is it_**?**

~The Next Book is: _**The Show Must Go On**_~


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